Capturing the Miracle: A Photographer's Perspective on Madalyn's Birth Experience

Madalyn and I first started talking in 2023. We had corresponded on Facebook a couple of times but weren't really friends yet. In February of 2024, I had been searching for a photographer for the birth of my twins who were due in July. I made a post on Facebook trying to get some quotes in our area when Madalyn reached out to me. She let me know that she had not photographed a birth before, but that it was something she had interest in. I knew right away that she was a warm and friendly soul. She also told me that she was a Labor and Delivery Nurse and had experience in the OR. This is one of the reasons why she ended up being a great asset to my birth team.

In March, Madalyn messaged me and let me know that she and her husband, Cody, had decided that they wanted to start trying for baby #3 later that summer. She asked me about my thoughts on doing a trade. Of course, that sounded like a dream to me. We also decided to trade maternity and Fresh 48 sessions! In April, we did my maternity photos and met for the first time in person. She was so kind and great with my kiddos! In June, we photographed a wedding together. She was my second photographer, which is sort of funny, because now, a year later, I'm writing this story of her birth the night before I go second-shoot a wedding for her! In July, I had my twins through a C-section. Madalyn was so steady through this traumatic and unexpected birth experience, navigating preeclampsia and all of my anxiety throughout each process. She documented my birth beautifully, then returned the next day to capture our Fresh 48 in the hospital. The follow three images are captured and edited by Madalyn Smith Photography.

On August 30th, Madalyn sent me a photo of a very, very, very faint positive pregnancy test. Her excitement was immediate, already guessing her due date to be around May 14th, 2025. Cody didn’t see the line at the time, but we could tell it was there!

On September 12th, Madalyn sent me a text with the most exciting news! She found out that her new little baby would be a GIRL! With two boys already, she was already dreaming of a sweet little girl. She was about six weeks when she found out through a blood test. We talked about a baby sprinkle, shower, or nesting party, and she looked forward to the future. She even started sewing up a sweet little bow and blanket. We started planning announcement photos for October, since she had an ultrasound coming up in the next few weeks.

On October 1st, Madalyn sent me a text. This one was not exciting. She had started spotting that morning and had an ultrasound. Her little girl’s growth was a few weeks behind and she had a low heartbeat. She did not sound very hopeful and told me she was not optimistic. She asked that we go ahead and postpone announcement photos indefinitely. During the following days and weeks, it was confirmed. On Saturday, October 5th, 2024, at 9 weeks and 2 days gestational age, Madalyn’s beautiful baby girl, Eleanor Ann, passed in her mommy’s warm and comfortable tummy.

In early November, Madalyn texted me about the possibility of being pregnant. She told me, “Part of me wants to scream it from the rooftops and part of me wants to cry into a pint of ice cream.” I told her, “You can definitely scream from the rooftops AND down some ice cream.” The next day, her line was darker and she told me that she was “choosing to be joyful and excited about this today!”

In the coming weeks, her HCG grew higher and higher. She started sewing for this sweet little babe. One of the first things she made was a rainbow swaddle gown for her rainbow baby. On November 26th, she finally got to see this baby that she was anxiously waiting for. She told me that “the relief of seeing a heartbeat and our happy tiny little orange seed baby was ridiculous,” and she was given a due date of July 20th, 2025. Not too long after that, she found out that her fourth and final baby would be a BOY! In celebration, she stitched the name “Theodore” into a blue outfit for him.

On December 12th, Madalyn sent me the sweetest video recording. It was of her little boy’s heartbeat at home. Later that evening, we photographed a session for the announcement of little Theodore! She had an entire Pinterest board dedicated to the announcement session that she had hoped for. Madalyn opted to use a token made from the colostrum from both of her little boys’ pregnancies, as well as part of her pink pregnancy test cap from Eleanor’s pregnancy.

We did it in the warmth of her home, with the Christmas tree to the side, the smell of sugar cookies, Teddy’s first “photo,” lots of smiles, rooms filled with love, and then, of course, a tribute to her little girl.

On Christmas Eve, I dropped off something that I hoped would bring a little extra warmth this holiday as she both mourned her little girl and was also full of delight and excitement for her little boy. It was a handmade swaddle gown and hat that I had sewn for her.

In January, nesting began full force for Madalyn and we started planning spring maternity photos! We made lots of plans for maternity sessions, sending each other a lot of fun inspiration and Pinterest boards. She sent me this photo of another little creation for her boy!

February was a slower month. It was cold in the middle of winter, and Madalyn spent a lot of her time sewing clothing for the kids. Then, she had her first high blood pressure reading. She did her anatomy scan for Teddy and said that he was happy, healthy, and measuring ahead. She said, “He very proudly showed us that he’s definitely a boy.” Her blood pressure went back down to normal ranges.

Mid-March, Madalyn continued to have some more high blood pressure readings. At 22 weeks, with pressures so high, her midwife decided it was best to run some labs. Everything returned normal, but she worried that this would risk her out of her desired birth experience. Madalyn had very much hoped for a home birth with this baby. She had it completely envisioned and a birth plan that she carefully put together. Her urine protein came back elevated the next day. She said that she stress-baked some peanut butter monster cookies and, “I guess at least I’ll have my cookies to comfort me.”

At the end of March, we did Madalyn’s first maternity session. It was an impromptu greenhouse session at Jackson’s Greenhouse. Madalyn wore a cute gingham dress, and we wandered around finding places to get some photos in!

On April 2nd, Madalyn had a migraine come on strong. She headed in to Labor and Delivery for labs and monitoring. Her blood pressures at home ran high. With elevated protein, they sent her home to do a 24-hour urine test and come back. It returned elevated, but not quite a preeclampsia diagnosis. On April 24th, she went back in with high pressures again. They ran pre-eclampsia labs, did a gallbladder ultrasound, and another 24-hour urine test. The next day, it became official. At 28 weeks pregnant, she was diagnosed with preeclampsia. She was 100% risked out of a home or birth center birth, and even the next several weeks were now unknown.

The following weekend, we did one more maternity session. It was a creative flower-top session. One of the perks that comes with being friends with other photographers is the fun opportunity to be extra creative! We picked up some beautiful flowers and met out at Clarion Woods Park, a favorite location to us both.

On my way to the session, I stopped at Michaels and picked up a small bottle foil. When I saw that they had some in rainbow color, I thought that it would be perfect to pay a small homage to sweet Eleanor, who paved the way for her little brother. It was quite the feat getting the flakes to stay on her tummy, but the end result was absolutely beautiful! The colors went along perfectly with her top and hair colors as well.

In May, now seeing an OB and going to the MFM office, a new game plan was made: more doctor visits, more monitoring, and to realistically expect delivery around 34 weeks, which was not optimistic. The good news throughout this entire journey was that Theodore was measuring great and had good blood flow. They planned to do the steroid series not too far ahead. At her May 5th sonogram, she found out she had excessive amniotic fluid as well, which added to her risk of preterm labor.

Mid-May, Madalyn mulled over her birth plan. It changed pretty drastically, and even then, it was subject to change each week. It all surrounded a vaginal birth but with low intervention. If Pitocin was needed, then she would like an epidural. She also hoped that either she or her husband would be able to catch Teddy and then have golden hour skin-to-skin. She also started considering the possibility of this birth ending up at a different hospital where there was a NICU suited for younger babies. Just in time as well, Madalyn sewed up her own hospital bag! She created a light blue gingham bag by hand.

On May 19th, after high blood pressure readings in the MFM office, Madalyn was sent to Labor and Delivery. Her vision faintly resembled TV static as well. After continued high blood pressure and poor labs, she was now considered severely preeclamptic and would be delivering her baby no later than 34 weeks. She would not be leaving until she transferred to the next hospital. She hoped that maybe she’d get to go home for a few days once her pressures stabilized with labetalol, but unfortunately, that did not happen. On May 22nd, she transferred. Around 7 PM, MFM officially recommended delivery. When Madalyn told Cody, he said, “ah, motherfucker.” They decided it would be best to induce her that evening.

As I packed up my things to head to the hospital, she told me, “They want to section me,” because there was a threat of her retinas detaching if she tried to push during delivery. It was also during this conversation that she told me who the on-call OB was, which immediately told me that once again, another important part of Madalyn’s birth plan would be ripped away from her experience.

I arrived at 8:48 PM. As I walked into her room, I heard the exact words that I so desperately hoped I wouldn’t hear: “The doctor is only allowing one additional person in the room.” This was so challenging. Madalyn had taught me over the past year to be strong, to advocate, and to use my voice. She was there for me in some of my darkest moments of birth advocacy so far. In the moment, I felt I had failed her. I knew the moment would come. I knew the OB. Madalyn stopped fighting it. She accepted this devastating news, as that last little bit of her heart and mind had to focus solely on getting through the next hour. I took a step back, defeated for her, trying to think of my next step. Do I advocate and push this further? Or do I rest and accept that, in this traumatic birth experience, there wasn’t anything else I could do?

The next 10 minutes, the staff reviewed the procedures ahead and worked to ease some of Madalyn’s nerves. Twilight played in the background. Cody hummed.

Madalyn’s mom put socks on her feet. This was a small act for her daughter as she stayed by her side. Among the anxiety and fear that was in the room, there was still laughter, joy, and love.

At 9:30, Cody got in his scrubs for the OR and said, “I work here.” Madalyn told me that Cody has always been her favorite person to be in a stressful situation with. She knew he would be an amazing birth partner because he is so funny and silly when she needs to be distracted, but he’s also gentle and comforting when she needs to be reassured.

Before they went back to the OR, I handed my expensive camera, set to auto, off to Cody. I knew that he needed to be by Madalyn’s side the entire time, but I also knew that if there was any way to not lose a piece of her story, this was it. My camera was passed around the OR, and one nurse took time to take several images. Instead of myself, who is trained and experienced with photography in an OR setting, a nurse who was there for other duties took the opportunity to still capture these moments for Madalyn, which is something she should never have had to do.

While I waited outside the OR, I was enraged, I was sad, I was worried. I hated that I had to just sit there. I hated that I could not be there for my friend when she had been there for me. If it were any other birth, SHE would be the person that I was on the phone with about it. I knew she was in safe hands though, and the only thing I could do was wait. Later, Madalyn expressed to me that she wished I would have been allowed in the OR and asked me to make sure that the OB knew that. She said:

“I want to talk about how your lack of presence affected my experience. After a bumpy pregnancy and an uncertain few weeks, the last thing I wanted to be worrying about was if the OR staff was able to get pictures of my baby being born, which was really important to me. I shouldn’t have had to worry about that when I had a perfectly competent, respectful photographer literally on the other side of the door. The other aspect of that is that they’re not just ‘photos of a baby being born’ that I wanted; I wanted the unique brand of storytelling that you provide through your birth photography services. You do a wonderful job of getting the details of the experience. And while my photos are beautiful and I love them so much, I also know that there’s that essence of storytelling that didn’t get put into the thought behind each image. Because it was just a spare nurse with a camera, taking pictures of a baby being born, not a birth photographer who specializes in birth stories documenting a major life event.”

Madalyn’s OR experience is not something I remember and is not something I was able to document for her, but I was able to ask her some questions to help give her a space to tell HER story. I asked her about the sights and sounds of her birth environment, and this is what she said:

“The anesthesia provider turned on some music for us, which was nice. It kept the background from being too quiet. Cody talked me through everything, which was comforting. The beeps and sounds of the OR weren’t too crazy, but I wish the baby warmer had been closer so I could have seen or at least heard how Teddy was doing.”

When I asked her about the smells and feelings of her baby’s entrance into this world, she told me:

“Reaching my hand up to touch his face through the drape will be forever an image ingrained in my brain. Comforting hands: the nurse’s hand on mine while they placed the spinal. Cody’s hand in mine while they did the surgery. My mom’s hand on my forehead when I was nauseous. The cold rag on my head and neck.”

Madalyn later told me that her favorite moment of her entire birth experience was hearing her baby cry. “Hearing him cry was such a relief,” she said. It lifted a weight off of her. After he was born, Cody held Madalyn’s hand and told her that Teddy was okay. Madalyn couldn’t see him. She told me that the fact that he also got to follow Teddy to the NICU was really important to her. Her mom went and sat with her while Cody was out with Teddy. It was very comforting while she did not have Cody.

At 11:20, she came out of the OR into the recovery room. She was joined by her mama who immediately showed her photos of baby Teddy on her cellphone.

She pumped as soon as she could to get started on her plan for a successful breastfeeding journey, even if it looked a little different than normal. It took a few days for her milk to come in, even though she pumped right away. It really freaked her out. She said, “I shouldn’t have worried about it though. I should have trusted my body to do its job.” I could see how that was really challenging to do, given her pregnancy experience. Cody immediately went with Theodore to the NICU. She told me later on that she was surprised that she “held it the fuck together.” She genuinely thought she would be a mess with a surprise C-section, a 31-weeker, and terrible vision, but somehow she “didn’t lose it.”

We later talked about her labor and delivery, what was difficult, and how she was able to overcome challenges. She told me, “The uncertainty of how Teddy would fare with such an early birthday was the most difficult thing. I can handle road bumps when it comes to me and my health, but worrying about my kid’s well-being was the hardest part, because no one could give me a straight answer.”

Madalyn told me that her nurse that night at the hospital was phenomenal. She said, “We went from chatting and joking at 7 PM to baby prep at 10 PM, and she was not only reassuring but patient and helpful and did a great job of keeping the mood light despite the gravity of the situation.” While Madalyn waited in recovery, her mom remained by her side. Her joyful presence was exactly what Madalyn needed during this exceptionally difficult period of recovery.

The next day, Madalyn sent me a photo of her holding her sweet little boy’s hand. “Not being able to pick up your baby or touch your baby without permission is a unique kind of torture,” she said. She showed me his tiny footprint and how he would open his eyes to see his mama sitting there next to him.

A few days later, he got to have his first bath, and she got to give it to him. She showed off his dark hair, which contrasted with the other boys’ red hair! She also sent me a photo of him resting on her skin in the NICU, snuggled up against mama’s heartbeat.

On May 28th, he was able to breathe all by himself! This was a major milestone for Teddy and his family. Over the next few weeks, they focused on learning how to eat and nurse. Once he could nurse successfully, Madalyn would be able to bring her baby home.

On June 10th, I went to the NICU to see Madalyn and finally meet Theodore! I captured some images of him in his crib, snuggling with Madalyn, and a few nursing. I also captured a few things that were specific to the NICU: her “Teddy” blanket hanging over the hospital chair, a diaper sitting on a scale, the hospital bracelets on the metal crib, a tiny stethoscope, and the wires.

Finally, on June 23rd, a few days after he was able to get off of the feeding tube, Teddy Eugene was able to go home and be where he belongs—with his whole family.

A few weeks later, Madalyn came into the studio for a long-awaited newborn session.

We captured some images of him surrounded by Teddys, of course.

Then, I wanted to find a way to show the little heart that came before him. It was one that I would never photograph but that I would always remember. We laid Teddy on the posing bed and wrapped him up in a rainbow. I placed a small teddy bear, dressed in pink, between his hands and feet. A small, tangible way to remember the little sister he never met.

Then I captured a few more of him alone. This image of him on a blue backdrop strikes me because he looks just like his mom. She even makes this facial expression, I swear.

Then, of course, we had to capture some of the two of them together. These will probably always be some of my favorite images. Madalyn has beautiful red hair. Her complexion combined with this backdrop in the studio was absolutely stunning. Then, to add the softness of her love with little Theodore. It was perfect, absolutely perfect.

Later I asked how birth has changed Madalyn. She said, “This pregnancy and birth story in general tested my resilience. I was joking with the nurses a few days before he was born that if they asked me to give up a kidney to ensure Teddy’s safe arrival, I’d tell them to wheel me into the OR, and I wasn’t really kidding. High-risk pregnancy with two other kids at home isn’t for the weak. It also showed me just how much I never want to be pregnant ever again :)”

Walking alongside Madalyn throughout this chapter of her life has been one of the greatest honors of my own journey as a photographer and as a friend. What started as a few Facebook messages has become a bond through some of life’s most sacred moments. From the first faint lines of hope to the heartbreak of loss, I have watched her walk through with courage, leaning into joy with open hands, and finally welcome her little boy home with awe. To witness her motherhood, to be entrusted to capture its beauty even in the hardest places, to stand beside her with my camera in hand and my heart wide open has been one of the greatest gifts and one that I will never take for granted. Madalyn, thank you for letting me witness, remember, and celebrate the miracle of you and your family. I am endlessly grateful that our paths crossed when they did.