The Story of Abigail.

Good things come to those… who never give up.

I photographed Jon and Melody first during a couples session with their two fur babies. Since then, I’ve captured many life events for them but nothing will compare to having the honor to capture the birth of their daughter, Abigail.

Of course, I love hearing the birth stories as told by the mother, so here is the story of Abigail… told directly by Melody.

“The first thing that comes to mind after the birth of our daughter is God has big big plans for this little miracle.

After 6 years together my husband and I were told we had a very slim chance of ever conceiving a child on our own. Most likely our only options to have a child would be IVF or adoption. We were shocked and heart broken. We had been married less than a year and just wanted to start a family.

We processed the news, accepted the fact that we needed help and started a plan. We started our IVF journey in the following few months. We started with 5 embryos, 3 good and 2 that were unlikely to result in a baby. We transferred two at the same time hoping we could have twins and our family would be complete. Then we got the devastating news that neither embryo took. We took some time made a few changes and tried again a few months later just transferring one embryo this time. Then we got the call 2 weeks later that this one also didn’t take. We weren’t pregnant. Again. At this point we were heart broken and didn’t know what to do. If the 3 good embryos didn’t work how would the last 2.

We went through all of this while my husband was stationed in a different state while going through training for the army. We decided to wait until he came back home in a few months and go to a new doctor.

So we found a new doctor and came up with another plan and started a few months after he got home. This time we only got 1 embryo and it was fair. The doctor didn’t want to get our hopes up and neither did we.

January 22nd, 2019- we transferred our one and only fair embryo hoping for a better ending this time. A week later we got the call. We were pregnant. We finally got the news we had been praying for. I had to go back in two days to have my levels checked again and they called later that day. We were still pregnant, but it wasn’t quite what they were expecting. Your HCG levels are supposed to double every 48 hours when you first get pregnant. Mine hadn’t doubled, but they were rising. So we had another check 2 days later, still hadn’t doubled, but were still rising. The doctor was worried that I was having an ectopic pregnancy and wanted to check 2 more times. So two days later my levels were checked again. They had finally doubled. We felt so much relief, but the doctors weren’t convinced. So I went in one last time. They had doubled again, but the doctors were still worried so they wanted us to come in for an ultrasound. A few days later we were anxiously waiting in the doctors office. The doctor told us if there is a baby growing in the correct spot you’ll see one tiny little circle in the screen. Our hearts raced as the doctor scanned over my stomach trying to find a little baby growing inside me. And then he saw it and we cried tears of joy. I was even measuring a day ahead. The amount of joy we felt as we left the doctors office that day was indescribable. Our prayers had really been answered.

We went the next nine months awaiting the arrival of our miracle baby. Girl or boy we didn’t know and it didn’t matter, although we both really hoped for a little girl.

My due date came and went. Four days later I woke up at 2am to what I thought was my water breaking, but not quit sure since I had never been in labor before. I woke my husband and told him I thought my water had started breaking but I wasn’t sure. He said ok well if it was your contractions should start soon so try to go back to sleep and get some rest. So I laid down and within 20 min I woke him back up. My contractions had started, I think. So I decided I’d get in the tub and see if it helped at all. I sat in the tub for about 20 min and they were getting stronger. So we started timing them, they weren’t quite where they were supposed to be when they tell you to go in. So we decided to try and call our midwife to see what we should do. Well of course we couldn’t find the paper with the number on it. But they were getting stronger. So we got ready to go. Finally, about three hours after I woke up we left for the hospital and texted our family that we were on our way, but wasn’t sure if they’d admit us so we would let them know. We got to the hospital at 5am and they took us back to check me and see if I was in labor. The midwife on call checked and told me that my water had in fact broke and I was about 3-4 cm dilated and 80% effaced. She said my water probably broke a tiny bit at the top and was trickling down. They started monitoring my contractions and they were pretty strong so they admitted us to our own room. We got up to our room at about 7 o’clock. We met our nurse and she asked us about our birth plan. I was certain that I didn’t want any medication and told her I wanted to do this completely natural. She said a lot of women say that and then there comes a point where they change there mind and asked how she would know if I really wanted medicine or not. I looked and my husband and I said he’ll know if I need it. My contractions continued to get stronger and closer together. I got in the tub to try to relax again and my husband texted our photographer at about 9 o’clock telling her we were in labor. But thinking this could be an all day thing. she asked how far along I was in labor and said to time my contractions and let her know when they’re about two min about. So he started timing. The first one was two min and then the second. So he texted her back and said they’re definitely two min apart right now.  She got there around 9:30. I continued to labor for another hour trying different positions, and using a ball as contractions continued to get stronger. About 1030 as I was standing leaning over the bed with my husband behind me I had a contraction so strong that my water completely broke everywhere. I remember being amazed at how much fluid had just come out of my body. The nurse continued to talk me though it telling me that was a really good sign that my labor was progressing. I got in the tub again to try to relax and ease the pain. And then I started feeling like I needed to push, something I had questioned my entire pregnancy. How will I know when I need to push? And everyone kept telling me you’ll know. All I remember thinking was will I though? I’ve never been in labor before. But they were right. You just know. Your body tells you. It was at that point in the tub I had broke down and asked for some medicine. I told my husband I didn’t want an epidural but I just wanted something to help ease the pain. He told me ok I’ll ask the nurse next time she comes in, little did I know she was standing right behind him and he had told her she doesn’t really want it. He was right, but in the moment I didn’t know that. Again I told them I felt like I needed to push and the nurse came in and told me I couldn’t start pushing until the midwife came in to check me.  I hadn’t been checked since I got admitted so we weren’t sure how far along I was. A few minutes later at 11 o’clock she came in and I got out of the tub for her to check me. Immediately she said I can feel the head you can start pushing. An hour later at 12:10pm we were blessed with a beautiful 9lb 13oz, 22.64in long, baby girl. She gave us a scare and came out blue not breathing but 5 min after the doctors rushed in to help her she was back on my chest and breathing just fine. Daddy named her Abigail Sue and our hearts were full of love for our little miracle baby.

She was everything we had prayed for and worth every needle prick and heartbreak we had to go through to get her.”

**Photos that show Abigail’s face have not been added to the post per request of parents. TheNYDoulatog respects it’s clients and their full autonomy & Images shared are always at discretion of client. <3