I am so excited to share this blog post with you today about birth videography. Kourtnie lives in Cleburne, TX and I have been following her stuff for awhile. She really has an amazing eye for capturing your birth story. I wanted to share something on the blog about videography and I am so glad that Kourtnie agreed to share with me. I love her journey about how she became a birth videographer. Enjoy.
There are many reasons why you should choose to have your Birth or Family Story filmebirthd. Archiving your story offers the opportunity to watch your special memory at any time and can be a unique and amazing experience. I felt sharing my perspective on the importance of professional video might be helpful. What were my reasons behind having both my births filmed and hiring a professional videographer? How did my filmed Birth Story impact my daily life?
My journey started with my first pregnancy. Like most new moms I was unaware of what the birth world had to offer. As I learned (and became overwhelmed) during my pregnancy with Axle, I accidentally discovered Birth Photography and decided, I WANT THAT! Prior to that time, I had no idea that birth photography existed. Now I knew I wanted someone to photograph my birth. Little did I know, that those images would start my own journey towards becoming a professional birth photographer/videographer.
I knew God was leading me through this journey. I was asked by one my midwife’s students if she could video Axle’s birth. I was all for it! When I was growing up, my dad took pictures and video and I love watching these old home videos. I thought it would be cool to start my own family’s edition. Little did I realize how much this would come to mean to me after Axle was born.
Axle’s birth was hard. I was told it would be a marathon and to prepare, but how do first time moms prepare? I didn’t “get it” until I was in it. My birth haze was in full force. I don’t remember a lot, I was so tired, I remember just wanting to go to sleep. Later on, I thought about my birth and realized I had no idea how it “all went down”. Looking through my images helped, but it was the video that provided clarity and the full story.
I had many feelings right after seeing Axle’s Birth Story. I was able to watch my husband’s reactions, it helped me understand how he felt and see his perspective. I watched my birth team take amazing care of me. I loved seeing the details that I was totally unaware of during labor and birth. I felt like I was “outside of my body” when I watched how much of a rockstar I was, I KNEW these moments and feelings were too important to ignore. I had to make a way to share this “gift” with other moms. All moms NEED to experience this.
That is when I learned that Birth Photography and Videographer is a real thing. With real professionals that are amazing at what they do. I had the honor of participating in a workshop with Birth 101, when Elizabeth, Natasha, and Ceci were teaching together. What a powerhouse team! I will forever be grateful for these three women.
About the same time, Cody, my husband, was diagnosed with cancer. It rocked our world! It radically changed my view and approach to photography and film. I started thinking, what if I never hear him laugh again? That line of thinking led to more ideas including, videoing my mom singing to my kids. There were these two songs her mom sang to me and I now sing to mine. I want her voice captured for my kids to hear. I want video of first steps, fun ways Axle would pronounce words and the motion of life that photographs alone can’t quite capture.
Then, we found out I was pregnant again. What a feeling! I never thought I would see those two lines on a test again. Lylelynn was born 3.5 years after her brother and 2.5 years into my own business as a birth photographer and videographer. I have captured so many moments leading up to our miracle baby’s birth that I KNEW without a shadow of a doubt that I was going to have both a photographer and a videographer at her birth.
Can I just say right now, my birth team was a POWER HOUSE? Lylelynn came out LOP and man was that crazy. But I love the images and film from her birth. I love the connection. This time I hired a videographer that was amazing at her craft. I LOVED having her there. During this birth film, it was important for me to have Axle’s feelings, actions and reactions captured. I wanted to know how he did, what he said and watch it all unfold in real time. This film went above and beyond that expectation for me!
One of my favorite parts resulted from Axle going through the birth boot camp sibling class. I loved how Bevin told him to think about the sounds cows and horses make. It was so on his level. And of course, as soon as I started pushing he started mooing! “I can help momma” As I grunted and pushed the whole room started to “moo” and it was the FUNNIEST thing EVER. Loved it.
So now that you have learned my personal story and perspective, I hope you will think about having a videographer film your Birth or Family Story. Life is full of stories. You, your family, the people that surround you during these stories should be recorded. These are precious times and memories that will not ever happen the same way again. I hope you decide that videography is a necessity to help tell your precious story to the next generation.
