A Twin Story: One Vaginal + One Breech Cesarean | Tripler, Honolulu Birth Photographer

Being pregnant with twins is amazing, but it can also be challenging once everyone starts taking your choices away and puts you in the high risk category. Rachael was determined to fight for right to birth the way she wanted, and to have me in the OR for the vaginal delivery of her twins.

This was a year ago to the day. They knew I had a big trip to Europe planned around their due date so we had a backup in place in case the babies didn’t come before I left.

My flight was on March 12, 2020 in the afternoon. The babies were ready to be born on March 11, 2020 via induction. I got to Tripler at around 7pm that night. Rachael labored beautifully through the night. In the early hours of the 12th, she was complete and ready to push so they took her to the OR. We knew Baby B was breech. But there was a chance she could turn after Baby A had been born.

The OR was bustling with people. A twin arrival! Teams for baby A and teams for baby B. It was loud and hectic, Rachael started to push… an hour went by and baby A wasn’t here yet. I saw people start to leave the OR. It started to get quiet. Someone dimmed the lights. At one point I had to hold Rachael’s leg because it was just her husband, her nurse and the OR tech in the room. It was glorious.

Baby A, a boy, joined us on earth at around 4:20am. His NICU team came in to assess him, and determined he was 100% ok so he went to mom’s chest where he stayed there for a while. Contractions slowed down. Everything slowed down in a beautiful way for Jimmy and Rachael to enjoy their son.

Baby B was still breech. The OB was called. Rachael wanted to birth the next baby vaginally but she was so tired. They tried an inversion. The contractions had slowed down a lot, which is not uncommon for a twin delivery. But ultimately, the OB wasn’t comfortable waiting and they decided to perform a cesarean for Baby B.

I wasn’t allowed to stay in the OR. The welcoming environment suddenly changed. It was clear a new team had come in and that team was all business.

I left the OR and joined Rachael’s mom and brother in the room. A few minutes later, Jimmy came in with pictures of a girl! They brought her in shortly, and grandma and uncle got to cuddle both babies while Rachael was in recovery.

I had to leave at 9am so I could make it back home to shower, gran our bags and head to the airport. I didn’t get to see Rachael again nor did I get to see her hold both of her babies. However, I am honored they welcomed me into their sacred birth space and their story. I’m grateful they let me share their story - a story that was hard for them to process and come to terms with.

It feels like decades ago. It also feels so fresh in my memory. How our world has changed since then! It’s crazy to look back and realize how we had no idea how much our lives would change.

Thank you Jimmy and Rachael for letting me capture, to the best of my ability, the beautiful arrival of Everett and Mollie.