Mom and doula Heather may have posted this incredible photo of her son being born completely inside his amniotic sac two years ago, but the image is still getting the Internet’s attention.
One look at the mind-blowing capture, and it’s easy to see why.
Indeed, this photograph offers a truly unique glimpse inside the womb. Yup, that blue thing is the umbilical cord. What I find truly amazing is how Heather’s little guy is completely balled up inside his sac, nearly folded in half! I guess that’s what all babies look like in there!
And even more incredibly, and as this mama reveals on Instagram, her son wasn’t alone inside her womb.
“My twin b, Dalton in his caul,” she explains, adding “The twins were born at 39 1/2 weeks into the water and our hands at the birth center.”
Now her guys are 2 years old. And as Heather writes, “It still blows my mind every time this photo goes viral.”
Sorry to say, but my mind is not blown. Because, wow! This photo is just so rare, so special, I would expect it to get attention forever. It’s similar to another recent c-section image from Instagram that has gone viral. Because both images prove that even in a world where, as I previously wrote about the c-section photo, everything is photographed, and shared online, some pictures are just so powerful, so awe-inspiring, so extraordinary, so stunning, they stand out among the crowd.
If you love photographs that will, quite simply, make you stop what you are doing and stare, take a look at this slideshow of birth images captured by one of my all-time favorite birth photographers, Aubrie Moates of Hello Baby Birth Photography. The emotions are so real in these images. You. Will. Feel. Them. All.
This mama's abuela (grandma) shares her words of encouragement (in her native language, Spanish), and a thumbs up, through tears.
Surprise! After 5 years of struggling to conceive, this family was just starting the process of adoption, when they found out they were expecting a baby girl!
How can you not love a doctor who smiles right along with you?
Mama and her OB were prepared to attempt a VBAC, but baby had other plans. Grandpa, who was visiting all the way from India, couldn't hold back the tears. His chin trembled; he so wanted his daughter to have the birth she had hoped for.
These are parents to twin, micro-preemie girls, born at 23 weeks. One twin went to live in heaven. The other was whisked away to the NICU, where she stayed for four months, until she was big enough to go home. Mama never got to hear either baby cry at birth. Until now. She also didn't know the baby's gender ahead of time. It was a girl.
Dad takes a moment to compose himself.
"There have only been a couple instances I've witnessed where mama requested that she 'catch' her own baby... and WOW, is it powerful," Aubrie said. "This was their 5th and last baby, and the only shot mama specifically requested was this."
As Aubrie arrived at the hospital for this birth, she says, "The doula sticks her head out the door and yells 'RUN!'" Mama was on her hands and knees on the floor. "And I see a little hand being born." Yes, she gave birth on the floor.
This moment between a soon-to-be mom and dad took Aubrie's breath away.
This daddy was speechless when his daughter was born.
Tears, sweat, laugher... every emotion combined equals birth," Aubrie says. "Witnessing a family fall in love with their creation is priceless."
The tiniest, most perfectly-formed newborn fingers.
"Natural birth goes from 100 mph to peace in no time flat," Aubrie recounts.
This sweet newborn needed a little assistance to get that Apgar score up.
He found his thumb!
"Nothing more powerful than when a family gathers for prayer around a new baby," Aubrie says.
On the home stretch of their NICU stay! Mom and dad can now share smiles instead of tears... there is hope!
"Even the toughest guys are no match for the OR. Thankfully, daddy made a graceful descent to the floor (with the help of staff), and had a bed in recovery right next to mommy!"
The mom who was preparing to take her babies home, was visiting the twin boys, born at 23 weeks, in the NICU. "Those weeks and months spent in the NICU were so uncertain," Aubrie says, adding "As any NICU parent knows, it's often one step forward and two steps back."
When contractions take over.
This was, according to Aubrie, a beautiful, magical home birth. "A first for me, as a photographer. Watching, waiting until the wee hours of the morning. Amazed at the endurance Mama had right up until she pushed her baby boy out."
Dad asks to dedicate his baby to the Lord, before his cord is even cut.
Featured photo used with permission by Instagram user the_crunchy_twin_mom. Photograph by @mamarose819.
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