“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”

- Maya Angelou

Kylie Elizabeth Rowand: Personal | San Diego, CA | Analisa Joy Photography

This was my response when I found out that my sister-in-law was going into labor!

When I hear about people getting pregnant or read about celebrities having their babies I always feel like their pregnancies fly by. It’s like, Angelina Jolie is having a baby and then bam she has a child AND twins. I didn’t even have time to reflect that she was pregnant a second time! When my sister-in-law Bree got pregnant I was ready for the same experience. I wanted to photograph her baby bump and then have the baby come right after. However, the anticipation of this little girl seemed like FOREVER! Holidays came, birthdays came, showers came, and still the baby still had months to go. We were all anxious for this little girl to come into our lives, but toward the end of Bree’s pregnancy we realized the importance of the nine month development process. About two months ago, Bree was put on bed rest for premature labor. For over a month she had to stay in bed in order to keep her baby from coming into the world too soon. It was a nerve-racking time knowing that this child could be born into the world at less than five pounds, but we prayed and prayed that she would stay in just a little longer. Days passed, then weeks, and then a month and as Luke and Bree’s little girl got stronger, Bree was finally allowed to get off bedrest. At 37 weeks the pressure of Bree’s baby started to intensify and she realized she was ready for this little one to come out. She bounced on medicine balls and did every trick in the book in hopes that she would go into labor. Well, it worked and the next day she was emitted into the hospital. She arrived at 7:00pm and nine of us quickly followed. We brought snacks, energy drinks, ipads, cameras, video cameras, blankets, and pillows all in preparation for our nighttime adventure. Our nurse laughed as he came into the room in the middle of the night and saw us all sprawled out on chairs and on the floor. We were lucky to get an hour of sleep, but the adrenaline energized us when we discovered that Bree was fully dilated around 4:00am. Initially, I wasn’t going to stay in the room during the birth because I get queasy when I watch people get their ears pierced at Claire’s, but I decided that I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to capture a miracle. I’ve watched multiple birth videos in high school (and felt like passing out), but experiencing the birth of this child in real life was totally different. It was such an amazing and indescribable experience to see this little girl enter the world and I loved watching every moment of it. It was an emotional and tearful homecoming when she came and I am so thankful I was able to photograph those precious moments. Kylie Elizabeth Rowand was born at 6:48am on May 11, 2012 and she is going to be the most loved (and photographed) child. She has such amazing parents, grandparents, cousins, uncles, and of course aunts (woo!) and I can’t wait for all the new memories she is going to bring into our lives. Congrats Luke and Bree and to all you mother’s out there, happy early mother’s day! I love and appreciate you all.

The first breath of life!

Meet Annalisa

Believer, wife, mom.

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southern california.

available for worldwide travel.

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