“For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.” So they worshiped the Lord there. I Samuel 1:27-28

Every birth is different.  Every mom is different.  Every child enters this world into a different circumstance.  But this is the second time I’ve been in the delivery room behind my lens to capture the birth of a baby I’d been praying a long time for.

So while I’ve told you before that I cry at every birth, this is the first time I’ve cried multiple times… there were too many emotions in that little room and I could not hold any of mine back.

Joe and Stephanie have prayed for a child for a long time.  Not as long as some, but when waiting for a child, it always seems like an eternity because of that reminder each month that there will not be a child on the way.  But since the moment they found out this little one was coming, they knew this child belonged to the Lord and they were simply given responsibility over her.

My faith is strengthened each time I get to see Stephanie.  And being in that room with them Friday and Saturday was no different.

Stephanie was admitted to the hospital Thursday evening to be induced because they were afraid baby Harper was under weight and not getting the nutrients she needed.  I knew it would be at least Friday afternoon before I went to the hospital, but I headed on over there around lunchtime just to be safe.

Friday evening came and we were all hanging around chatting and laughing and hoping that Harper would come to meet us before midnight.

Joe’s mom was finishing up a smocked dress for Harper while we waited.

Thankfully, Stephanie was able to get some rest in the midst of contractions and the waiting.

But when the doctor came by that evening, he said it would still be quite a while before we met their baby girl.  So, I actually came back home, was asleep by 9:30pm (with my phone turned up so I could hear it if Joe called during the night!), woke up at 2am to no notifications and prayed for Stephanie as I went back to sleep.

When I woke up again around 6:30am and hadn’t heard anything, I texted Joe to see how things were going and he said they hadn’t seen a doctor since 2am (when God woke me up to pray for her!).  At that time, she still had a little ways to go so they continued to rest and waited again for the doctor to come by.

At 9:27am, Joe texted for me to come on to the hospital.  At 9:29am he called me to say they were about to start pushing!  I’d been ready to go since 7am so I told him I’d be there in 30 minutes max! I jumped in the car and quickly made my way down I-85 to the hospital.  I may have gotten there in record time… I ran in expecting the room to be full and Stephanie to be pushing.  But all was quiet…

Harper was so ready to be there that they thought once Stephanie started pushing that Harper would be here very quickly.  So we took a few more waiting photos before things got going.

Joe had his game face on, but it softened the second he saw his sweet little girl.

In the middle of labor and delivery and she was smiling!

Cue all the tears…

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” Phil 4:4

Not even 2 minutes after being born and her daddy is already completely in love with her.

One of the things they wanted was for Joe to pray over Harper before the grandparents came in to meet her.  He got choked up just a few words in and my tears started flowing all over again.

I loved getting to go and get the grandparents!  Plus, it was just fun to see them all again after meeting them at Joe and Stephanie’s wedding 4 years ago :-)

This next series of photos is just fun…

I love this!

Oh sweet girl, I love you so! (Thank you for taking this, Joe!)

They all prayed over Harper together, as a family.  And I’m so thankful that she will know that she was prayed over from the very beginning of her life!!

She didn’t love being removed from someone’s arms…

But the swaddle and warm lights quickly made her content and helped her drift off to sleep.

Steph, how are you so beautiful after 37 hours of labor??

Those.Lips.

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