The first time I met this mama, I knew she was the type of person who was well loved. Kelly has the kind of personality that just makes you feel like you're friends instantly.

It was no surprise, then, that Kelly was a total VIP during her birth, and her delivery room was like a revolving door of friends and family coming to check in and visit.

Kelly had been having contractions on and off for weeks, so I was constantly checking my phone and jumping every time it made a sound. We were all surprised when she actually made it all the way to her induction date!

When my birth clients are induced, I normally wait for the call that things are progressing and mom is 4-6 cm dilated. However, Kelly had told me that her first birth progressed very quickly once things started moving. I knew it might take a little while to get things going, but I didn't want to risk missing the birth if she progressed as quickly as she had the first time.

I dropped my daughter off at preschool and headed straight to the hospital. When I arrived at about 9:30 am, Kelly and her husband, Jackson, were all settled in and waiting for the nurse to come start pitocin.

Shortly after I arrived, the first member of Kelly's hand-selected birth team arrived. She is a baby nurse at the hospital where she delivered, so she asked two of her friends to be a part of her delivery team: one as her delivery nurse and one as the baby nurse.

There were other nurses and family members who stopped by throughout the morning to chat for a minute and add their votes for gender and birth stats on the white board in the delivery room.

The first few hours were pretty relaxed. Dad was fielding all phone calls and incoming texts and updating the voting board with outside guesses. Mostly we were just waiting... Waiting for the pitocin to kick in. Waiting for contractions to pick up. 

At one point, Mama even said, "I don't know what this baby is waiting on."

"Baby's waiting on the rain," Dad said.

They then proceeded to tell me about how it had rained on every significant event in their life together: their wedding day, the day their first child was born, every bridal and baby shower and on and on.

I quickly checked the forecast and saw that there was no rain that day. I said, "Well, if we're waiting on rain, we might be here a while."

"Just wait. The rain's coming," he said.

Around noon, Jackson stepped out for lunch. I stayed in the room chatting with Kelly and suddenly a huge storm cloud rolled in and it started to POUR.

A few minutes later, Jackson returned, soaking wet, with a big grin on his face.

"I told you the rain was coming."

It was about this time that contractions were becoming more intense and closer together. When the OBGYN stopped by to check, Kelly was still 3 cm dilated, but I still had a feeling that things would move suddenly (especially now that the rain had come).

Kelly was ready for her epidural, and I ducked out to grab lunch while the anesthesiologist did his thing.

Kelly tried to take this opportunity to get some rest, but as it turns out, we didn't have much longer to wait.

Just before 3:00 pm, Kelly was dilated to 9 cm. She called her personally chosen baby nurse and told her it was time to head to the hospital. 

Kelly said she was starting to feel different and knew things were changing. Less than an hour later, she was complete and ready to push. The doctor came in and the room was quickly changed for delivery.

Kelly pushed for less than 10 minutes before her new baby arrived and everyone scrambled around the bed to get a peek.

Jackson was the one who officially announced, "It's a girl!"

​A little while later, once mom and baby were settled, I followed Jackson out into the waiting room where the rest of the family was waiting to hear the news.

He picked up his first born...

... and said, "Come on. Let's go meet your baby sister."

​And. The. Crowd. Went. WILD.

Big brother was the first to meet Baby Penny.

He was so sweet and timid at first, but quickly shifted into a proud big brother.

He announced to everyone who came into the room, "THAT MY BABY PENNY!"

Then the rest of the family took turns meeting the newest addition.

Eventually, it was time to get Penny's first measurements.

Shortly before I left, I heard Jackson say as he held his new baby girl, "I think I'm a big fan of the rain now."

Thank you Jackson and Kelly for letting me be a part of this amazing day! 

Ah... summer in Charleston.

It's my favorite.

You'll hear lots of other people complaining about the heat and humidity, but not me. It's one of my favorite parts of living here.

I don't do cold. But days spent by the ocean or at the pool or relaxing in the shade of some big, beautiful oak trees? Count me in.

June was a sweet, leisurely month with my kids - so here's the monthly recap of my Life in 52 challenge photos!

Week 23

This was actually an iPhone photo, but I couldn't resist sharing it. My wild and crazy toddler asked if he could watch cartoons in my bed while I was getting dressed one day. When I came out of my bathroom, I found him lounging in my bed like this. It was too cute not to take a photo. 

Week 24

Okay this isn't exactly lifestyle, but I don't really care. My Bug is normally quiet and shy, but put that girl on a stage and she's all smiles. Her dance recital was the second week in June, and I was so proud of her sassy little self.

Week 25

We don't have a ton of shade in our yard and it's often too hot for the kids to just play outside in the afternoon. However, it often cools down just enough in the evenings for a little bit of play time. Bug's favorite thing to do is jump on this worn out mini trampoline. She loves to make up songs while she jumps and it helps her burn off any extra energy before bed.

Week 26

At the end of the month, we spent a morning at Charlestowne Landing with some friends before it got too hot. I, of course, brought my camera along because this is one of my favorite parks. I snapped this photo of Bubba when he stopped for a snack and decided to sit on a low hanging branch. He has only recently become obsessed with wearing his sunglasses, and I love it!

I'll be back to posting more birthy goodness on the blog this month and don't forget to check back for July's Life in 52 photos in a few weeks!