Cape Town Blogger Tracey’s 3rd Arrives at Home! {Yuriko Mae} | Cape Town Birth Photographer

The moment their song starts playing, I get a little misty-eyed. There is something about home. About the fire being on. Everyone there. The togetherness and coziness we all long for. Sure its mixed in with some chaos. It wouldn’t feel like home without it. This birth is all of that and more. Surrounded by her mom, her daughters, her husband, her midwives and me, we welcomed Yuriko Mae into the world. This is their rainbow baby. A baby after pregnancy loss. The story is shaping, no way around it. There is a certain poignancy in any pregnancy that follows mourning a baby. Women’s wombs were never meant to be tombs. We can’t wrap our minds around it when it happens to us. And thus, there is an extra sacredness in bringing forth life after death.

Tracey’s family will shatter your heart in all the best ways. I didn’t want to leave after this birth. I wanted to stay curled up on their couch maybe reading books to her kids. But alas my own awaited. I did sleep on that couch the night before during the “false alarm” when I came out and then we all got the send back home after a few hours. Birth stories are never clear cut. Third births are always called the ‘wild cards’ and that’s because there’s really no telling. Tracey explains how this one was different to the others and not just because it was at home. I was on my toes all day for this one. Very worried it would happen to fast and so thankful when I was there with plenty of time to get all the details. So many incredible details like their littlest midwife…. I won’t give it all away.

Speaking of details, no one tells the story better than Tracey herself. Start Yuriko’s birth story here. Oh, and here is her published love letter to a rainbow baby.

And if you just want to really dive deep into their posts, here’s their maternity session and her last birth story. Also, if you are interested in giving birth at home in Cape Town, here’s a handy article on the topic from another one of my clients.

Thank you Tracey & Mike for hiring me again and again. Its been an honour of my career to document your lives so closely. Shared with family permission.