Birth Story Registry; Baby Kendall -

Hello friends and family! Life has been a whirlwind of growth and challenges. Love and losses. We are taking our beautiful blended family to Disneyland next month, and wanted to get our photography registry out to all of you as we enter the second half of our pregnancy! We spent a lot of time deciding what to write to you all in our invitation to share in our birth photography registry. We decided ultimately to share what it means to us, and first I sat down to write a letter to our little sprout. What came from that was raw, and visceral. It’s beautiful and vulnerable. We want to share it with you.
A “rainbow baby” is a term parents use to describe a healthy child born after a prior season of loss, whether through miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant/child loss. No parent can imagine suffering such a loss, but unfortunately, many parents know exactly how it feels to lose a child. Some of us also know what a special blessing it is to successfully have a healthy baby, a rainbow baby, after such a loss. Your father and I are a part of that club.
As I began to write this letter, I realized that the words that flowed out of my heart were less of a message I would actually share with my rainbow baby and more of a letter to myself. A “dear diary” entry, if you will. I had no idea how much I needed to document the journey that led to the birth of our rainbow baby. A journey that may be familiar to other moms. While it was a cathartic release for me, the contents of this letter are not something I would burden my child with. I realized, though, that the letter I needed to share spoke to the journey of my heart. I felt that this letter needed to be shared in hopes that other moms might find connection and community. So while I may never share the below letter with our sprout, I feel other moms of rainbow babies need to hear the journey. Your fathers journey with your brother’s mother. This is our truth.
My dearest sprout,You are the child of my dreams, the grand finale to our family, and the healer of my heart. We did not think it was possible to have another child after my years of chemical pregnancies and your father’s past miscarriages. Before I knew about you, I had lost all hope that my mother’s heart would be made complete. I gave away all the baby clothes, toys, and equipment I had been saving. I could not look at them anymore, and I knew other mamas could use them.
Making space eliminated the constant visual reminder that my heart’s desire (you) was never to be. What I did not understand at that time was that I was still desperately waiting for you. I buried the seed of my dream for you so deep down that I did not know it was there. Although I seemed to have given up hope, hope never gave up on me.
A few years later, a positive pregnancy test terrified me. You see, my perfect rainbow baby, I could not let myself believe that my dreams might actually come true. The idea that I might not get the chance to feel you in my belly and hold you in my arms was almost too much to bear. I tried to push down any glimmer of hope or excitement. I did not think I could handle the disappointment of another loss.
The first time I went to hear your heartbeat, I could not stop sobbing. The idea that something might have gone wrong wrecked me to the core. Then I heard it—the loud, strong song of your life. Your heartbeat was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. I recorded it and listened to it over and over. To this day, that recording is one of the most precious things I own.
Finally, at 16 weeks along, I set myself free to feel the joy, excitement, and redemption of your growing life inside me. I sing you songs, tell you how much I love you and explain how your big sister, and big brothers can not wait to meet you. We shared the news of your life with people whom we loved and they grew to love you with all of their hearts. Your grandparents are incredibly excited to meet you.
Soon we will get to bring you earthside, and photography and video was the best way we could think of to honor your memory in a more concrete and tangible way. May our gratitude never fade. We can’t wait to hold you little sprout!
To our loved ones, If you’re looking for a way to celebrate our sprout please consider our photography registry.Blessed be.

Welcome

I provide a visual connection to birth for a woman, her family, her baby and if she chooses her community.
I hand back to the birth warrior, raw visceral validation, a story to celebrate and heal by. Documentation to point ones finger at and see the shimmer in the growing babe’s eye.
I cannot simple define the why of a birth photographer; myself.
I hold space for the birth mama and family, I photograph in the most challenging of light on the most intense physiological female journey. Through my lens I look for the supple transformation of birthing skin, the endearing love of a partner and sharing of primal birth perseverance and surrender.
I am your storyteller. ~ Jenna Nord Birth Photographer-