The origin of a birth nerd.

Hi, Randi here to tell you a little story about how I fell in love with birth photography and became a doula too!

In 2017 (I) Randi attended my first birth, for a friend having her second baby at home. She called me when her water broke and I ran out the door right after midnight, stopping only to quickly brush my teeth. They were a quick drive away but as I ran through their front door her mom yells, “RUN! She’s pushing!” I flew up their stairs just as the her midwife brought her baby girl around her body helping her to lay down from her hands and knees position. I was able to witness all of this sweet girls first firsts, first breath, first latch, first sight of her parents. I was immediately hooked, a darling baby was born and a baby birth photographer was born right along with her!

(Isn’t it wild how different these images look? I’m glad I’ve since learned how to edit RAW images and that the technology for photographing in low light and editing grain/noise has gotten so awesome! Nevertheless, this was such a breathtaking moment that I’m so honored to have been a part of, it started it all!)

For the next few years I spun my wheels trying to figure out how to balance on call life with having to have regular job (or three). I attended as many births for friends that I could, capturing their birth stories and then running to the restaurant to wait tables right after. It was WILD!

In 2020 brought a lot of change for me, as it did for so so many people. I married the love of my life, who learned about my obsession with birth photography on our first date in 2019. When I lost my regular job and found myself with loads of free time during the shut down in 2020, he asked me what I would do if I could do anything, but we both already knew the answer was to tell birth stories!

I slowly built my website, social media profiles, repeat client lists and portfolio over 2017 to 2020 and I was ready to launch full force! As hospital policies narrowed, and I saw more and more need for birthing families to have support as well as beautiful images I pursued doula training through Jessica English at DONA too! Being able to add this extra skill and value to my clients in the body of just one person was so valuable especially during the strange years of the pandemic.

The more I learned about birth and labor and postpartum the more I couldn’t stop learning! I was eating it up.

Then in 2022 we decided to add to our little family. Entering into pregnancy with all of this knowledge and secondhand experience was such a gift, but also really added to the anxiety in many ways. Having walked with clients through difficult birth experiences or sharing the grief of loss with friends made the lines very blurry for this empathetic heart of mine. After a thankfully uncomplicated pregnancy, but very painful third trimester we welcomed our daughter Juniper in February of 2023 and our world was forever changed for the better.

I was also so grateful for doula work in a fresh new way. Our doula Hannah added such positivity and practical support especially for Joel. For him to be able to lean on her to be the brains allowed him to be able to really be all there for me. Something I will always treasure as a beautiful highlight in our relationship.

By this point my business was really growing! I even made a few exceptions to attend births earlier than I meant to during my maternity leave for a dear repeat mama and to back up for a friend. I was so in love with my work, but finding a steady work life balance was beginning to really tug on my heart too. Looking forward to Junies 1st birthday I was worried about attending a birth during her party so we scheduled the celebration a few weeks later to make sure I was safe to be there. For a one year old this is totally ok, but as she gets more aware of the calendar in the next few years, I really wanted to take steps to be able to make promises to her that I know I could keep. I knew I wanted to find a partner.

A few years ago Bri and I had met for coffee and hit it off immediately. We had SO much in common, especially our love for supporting birthing families and sharing our faith was a wonderful thing to have in common too. It wasn’t time then for us to join forces, but little did we know in January 2024, we would have the opportunity to work together sharing clients through Sprout and Blossom Birth!! It was the perfect way to learn each others styles, work with clients together, share the on call schedule, provide stellar support for our clients AND still be able to prioritize family time and the occasional vacation! (As I write this she’s packing up her family for a trip to Florida! Yay!).

In December of 2024 we jumped full force into building a business together! Knowing that we wanted to commit to supporting families together for the long haul! Together we bring so much experience, knowledge, confidence, and joy to the two prenatals we share, the postpartum check ins we prioritize, and the text support, prayers, and celebrations too. I love bringing this level of service to our clients, and together it’s just that much better!

It’s fun to look back and see how far I’ve come since that first barely caught birth story to my 40th birth, my own second pregnancy more that halfway baked, and The Nurturing Company’s very excitingly robust to-do list full of dreams and schemes! Stay tuned friends, this is just the beginning!

Love, Randi