2025 was quite the whirlwind, right moms? My goodness, phew!
I am fully embracing 2026 with open arms!!!
As many of you may know, I lost my dad a couple months ago, in October of 2025. That was really rough and unexpected. I am super thankful that my birth photography clients, especially my clients who walked through the hardest 14 final months of the tail end of my dads diagnosis along side of me. I cannot express how much deep joy and fulfillment it brought to me to be able to attend all of your births since my dad got sicker, because of the ability to support you100%, disconnect for a day or so from how difficult our family’s journey has been through this, and see you meet the littlest love of your lives was exactly the small joys that saved the end of 2024 and all of 2025 for me!
December 2025 was no different. I had lost my dad for two months but walking into the birth space of this incredible mama Stephanie, who advocated fiercely for her unborn son, was such an honor. To see how committed her husband, her mom, even her 13 year old daughter who was there for her labor, and meeting her Doula Olivia Beira (who is on the Coastal Doulas Doula team together with my Doula sister friends Bonnie Kelly, Cynda Kelley and Lindsey Ripley) was a dream, what a positively calming and peaceful birth worker who brought so much support to Stephanie’s labor and birthing space. I hope you’re able to feel those calming vibes through these images of Stephanie’s birth photography gallery.
In Stephanie’s words: “I was going to have a home birth and wanted to be able to have someone photograph the whole labor process and birth of my son. I knew how important that was for me to be able to have those memories! My sister referred me Paulina, and the very first time I talked to her I knew she was the one and I didn’t have to contact any other birth photographers. Talking to Paulina felt like I was talking to a best friend, and when I found out I couldn’t have a home birth due to preeclampsia I was devastated and Paulina was very loving and compassionate with everything that I was feeling, she understood what I was going through, and she kept reassuring me everything was going to be fine. She calm me down and I started to understand that God’s plans were different than mine and I just had to trust Him. You can text Paulina at anytime and she WILL get back to you right away, which gives us peace of mind since babies are so unpredictable and can come at anytime. I think it’s important to mention is that birth photography is something so personal and I can’t imagine having someone you never met in your life getting into your privacy and you feeling uncomfortable with that person, that’s why the connection Paulina builds with you from the beginning is SO IMPORTANT and you’ll feel like she’s part of the family and you know her since forever. She didn’t just stand there taking pictures, she was my support, she was proactive, always making sure I was hydrated, calm, laughing through pain, listening to my music, she was supporting me every step of the way, again, she felt more like a best friend than just a photographer. If I can refer her a thousand times I will, best birth photographer and friend.”
Stephanie reached out to me mid November that she and her husband Fabio were expecting their little boy around December 22nd and were planning their first home birth. The 22nd is a very special number and date in my life, and from the very first time we connected, I knew there was something incredibly special about this woman and mother, and when she chose me to be a member of her birth team, not only did I feel deeply honored, but I also felt like it was absolutely meant to be! Stephanie planned for her 13 year old daughter and her mom to be present at her birth along with her Doula Olivia and her Midwife Donna Blythe of Luxe Home Birth. But as we neared 40 weeks, she started struggling with elevated blood pressures that were a little higher than whats within the realm of the norm. After a lot of waiting and deliberating, Stephanie made the decision to be induced at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, to stay close to her home while providing her baby boy with the environment he needed to arrive earthside in a way that felt safest to her.
The day finally came when her waters were broken and I was on my way up I-95 to join Stephanie for her birth. She worked HARD through her labor, she continued to believe in herself and she fully embraced the support of her entire birthing team.
We gave her a few minutes to rest, and soon her mom was calling us telling us to hurry because baby boy was already making his way out!
We all ran into her room just in time to greet baby boy Ethan, their fifth and loved baby boy, born on Monday December 8, 2025 at 5:10pm weighing 6 pounds and 4 ounces and look at those dimples!! You can truly feel the love as soon as they all meet him! Leave a comment of support for the amazing mama and her team and let me know what you think of her powerful birth story!
