Tiffany Brown Photojournalist

20080714 the arrival of elena cejas chamberlain...

annie called at 5:30 a.m. on saturday morning saying contractions had begun and to hop the next plane. several hours later i was on a direct flight from vegas to guadalajara. three and a half hours later i breezed through mexico immigration and customs and thanks to a radical taxi driver who meant business, managed to arrive at her house in just under 10 hours from the time she called, and just in time to witness the arrival of my best friend’s first biological child, a daughter…..presenting Elena Jatia Cejas Chamberlain. 19 in. long and 8lbs, 4oz., born 5:40 p.m. CST, on july 12, 2008.

world, meet the newest natural born shredder!

i was shooting video as i jumped out of the taxi and hustled down the street to knock on the door. when panzon, annie and super’s 10-year-old son, answered the door with wide eyes, he said, “tia tiffany! the baby is here!”

we hugged and rushed into the house, video still rolling. apparently the baby was born almost simultaneously with my knock at the door. crazy, magical stuff! so i shot video for the first five minutes as i joined the moment of arrival, sharing the shock and reality of annie’s accomplishment – and that it was s a GIRL, we were all convinced it was a boy! – before grabbing my still camera.

NOTE/BACK STORY: this is the on-going story of my bff, annie, who is a third year medical student in guadalajara, mexico. she opted for a home water birth with an incredible midwife (joni) and ob/gyn (dr. jose) team on hand to assist when needed, and the pediatrician (dr. frankie) arrived a few hours before the baby was born. if you’re checking out my blog for the first time, here’s the back story on all this: MEXICO REDUX

DISCLAIMER: there is some graphic birthing content in the following pictures….and this is a very loose (read: large) edit since so many family and friends are tuning in to get the low-down.

annie and her husband, super, center, and their 10-year-old son, panzon, take-in their first glimpse of elena:

dr. jose sits back to take in the magic of birth. dr. jose is the same person who painted annie’s belly and did the belly cast last month.

joni, the midwife, helps annie get little elena on the boob right away, for the first time….

the placenta delivered 10-15 minutes after the baby. annie choose to keep the baby connected until her parents arrived the next morning, so her mom could do the honors of cutting the cord….

dr. frankie gives the newborn exam….

all of the women in annie’s family have had at least 9 lb. babys and with as huge as annie’s belly was we all expected a weighty bundle. gasps and laughter were sounded when elena only weighed 8lbs. 4oz.

annie’s husband, super’s mom, rosa lucia:

super starts the clean-up process and emptying of the birthing tub….

UP NEXT: annie’s parents arrive first thing on sunday morning to see their newest granddaughter and to cut the umbilical cord….

—————————————SUNDAY’S POST————————————-

20080715 day one for baby elena…

sunday elana’s first day in the world began after a night with a loose diaper, and the family’s first, well, mess. there was laughter and annie, super and panzon on the bed learning together. the celebration began again when super’s parents stopped by briefly (unfortunately my camera missed most of that visit) and then annie’s parents arrived from oregon after taking a red-eye flight!

a few hours after the grandparent arrivals annie passed her father, will, a book of w.b. yeats collected poems – a book he gave her more 15 years ago, and asked him to read ‘a prayer for my daughter’ before her mother, linda, cut the umbilical cord (shot video instead of stills for the actual cut.) panzon held his baby sister as will read aloud.

it was mostly a day of congregating on annie and super’s bed as we all gathered to visit little elena and quite exhausted annie….

on a side note, my co-workers at the las vegas sun are AMAZING. we made all manner of back-up schedule plans over the last two weeks of how it would work when annie’s call came – and the timing ended up PERFECT!! thanks so much again mark and crew!!

with love from mexico,
t.brown

i really hope these photos are decent. with the excitement of the week, it being a personal topic and posting late night when i’m tired, i’m not sure my edits are the best they can be….but alas, hope you enjoy!

the new grandfathers congratulate one another….

abuela chamberlain and panzon hang a balloon outside the house to announce a new baby girl…

super and his new baby girl after teaching a capoeira class at the park…

with all the excitement around the baby, panzon and i have been playing lots and making sure all the attention on the baby doesn’t crash down too hard on the new big brother. he was there for annie through the entire 19+ hour birth and is for sure going to be one of the greatest big brothers of all time.

i have combined the above posts as of august 21, 2008 to make the chronology easier to view, but still plan to add more photos from the week of elena’s birth SOON, so please check back on this entry if you like. thanks for looking…