One of the biggest honors in my career as a Michigan birth photographer, was the time that I got hired by a mama in Australia, and flew across the WORLD for a birth. It was pretty incredible! I was not only honored, but insanely excited. Australia is a place that I’ve always wanted to visit, and when Emma reached out to me and asked if I would make the trip, I just knew that I had to do it.

My husband, youngest daughter and I boarded a plane just a few days before her due date. She was having some sporadic contractions and we both knew labor was close. We got on our first flight and landed in LA, only to find out that our plane was delayed several hours. It was the middle of the night and we had an 18 month old baby, who, we hoped, would sleep on the 20 hour flight. Somehow, we managed to get a free room in the airport lounge and we laid Clem down, we ate and had a beer and we fell asleep. We woke at 3am to board the flight and had a whole row to ourselves! We all tried to sleep.

After a long, long, flight, lots of movies and trips to the bathroom just to walk around; we landed! I finally got to meet Emma and her family in the airport, and I was so glad to see she was still pregnant! It instantly felt comfortable, this was someone that I would know for a long time. We drove back to our AirBnb and dropped off our luggage. Then we immediately went to the pool and photographed her underwater maternity session, just in case labor started that night. It was a beautiful, sunny spring day and I could not believe we were here!

The next day came and went and Emma was having some early labor signs. We met, that evening, for a walk in the park as the sun set. It was a beautiful, warm, evening and there was a gorgeous full moon. It was her birth moon.

Of course, I brought my camera and took some more maternity photos…

The next day she went into labor and I went to her house for her birth! I was SO excited. You can read more of her birth story here.