How My Client Made the News | Newborn Photographer in Mystic, Connecticut

The Bireley family has been a big part of mine and my family's lives for several years now. Ally has been my children's nanny since early 2016, and I've done a few photo sessions for them now, with another one planned - a birth session - for the birth of their third child. Plans went awry, however, when baby Cory decided to come on his own time, with next to no warning for his parents or anyone else. Read on to hear more of this beautiful family's story, and how Ally wound up giving birth to her baby boy in her home bathroom (and subsequently making the news)!

Meet Cory:

Can you share with our readers a little about your family? Where are you from originally? How did you and your partner meet and end up living in Groton, CT?

We are from Lancaster, Ohio. We met working at Red Lobster. He was the new busboy and I was the young, crazy hostess. Over the next several months we started hanging out. Started dating 7 months after meeting and married within the year. It was a whirlwind for sure but the best decision I could have made. Right after we got engaged Andrew decided to join the Navy and went to bootcamp 6 months later and then we moved here to Groton, Connecticut.

The sweet Bireley Family:

How did you break the news to your partner that you were expecting a baby?

He was underway when I found out so I used some fabric paint and bought Liam and Maddy shirts and wrote big bro and big sis again on them. I picked him up when he got back with Liam wearing his shirt (Maddy was in school unfortunately) and he saw it (after I had to tell him to read the shirt and not just look at it). He couldn't believe it because the guys on the boat were doing a poll on who else was pregnant since there were already 2 other wives in his division pregnant.

What was your pregnancy with baby like? Did you suffer from any morning sickness? Have any strange cravings?

I had some nausea but the biggest problem was getting dizzy anytime I would eat, and the headaches in the first trimester. No strange cravings. I did prefer sweets over spicy/salty this time around, but that's about it. I did have my mom mail me a couple bags of Conns salt and vinegar chips because they are only sold in Ohio and surrounding areas.

What was your first thought when you found out the sex of your baby?

Thank God! Lol. Everybody wanted it to be a girl but I wanted another boy.

Which part of your pregnancy did you enjoy the most? And the least?

I enjoyed seeing how my other kids already loved their baby brother and they hadn't even met him yet. And Maddy's reaction when she found out she was getting another brother... that was priceless. She was not thrilled in the least bit (almost cried). The least enjoyable part would be how, in the second trimester, I would get really dizzy after eating anything so it was really difficult to do much with Liam during the day.

What made you decide to follow your specific birth plan?

Ha! Birth plan. That's funny. We planned to have an unmedicated birth (which did happen) because the epidural from Liam gave me serious back pain ever since and it didn't even work until after I had him. It was a terrible experience I didn't want to have again. We planned (emphasis on planned) for delayed cord clamping, immediate extended skin to skin, and Dacia to do our birth photography. I've read time and time again the delayed cord clamping can aid in their health and I haven't found any cons to it so I figured it's better to do it than not. As for the immediate skin to skin, I didn't get to do that with my first and it saddened me greatly not to have that uninterrupted time with my newborn.