All births are beautiful, but not all birth stories need to be told in the same way. For a lot of women the idea of having someone in the labor and delivery room, or in Selena’s case, the operating room, is pretty much terrifying. As moms we can all agree that the day you give birth may be the most vulnerable day of your life, and while it takes incredible strength and power to bring a child into this world, not everyone wants to invite a new person into such a sacred space. For those Rebels there is an alternative.

I first spoke with the Welge family a little more than a week before their daughter’s due date. They had a scheduled cesarean delivery and while they wanted the story of their third daughter’s birth told, what they really wanted was to capture their two older daughters meeting their sister for the first time. They wanted the story of the day they became a family of five to be beautifully captured forever. So that’s exactly what we did!

I met them at the hospital two days after their sweet miss Ellie was born and waited for the Charlee and Maddie whirlwind to arrive!

These girls are amazing. Charlee is the perfect big sister, so loving and sweet, calm and steady. Maddie, their free spirit, is equally loving but a little more, ok a lot more, wild. And Ellie, the baby, the quiet observer, two days old and already settled into her spot in the family.

We didn’t tell the story of just Ellie’s birthday. We took a step back and told the story from a little farther away. The story of them finding the third little girl who made their family complete.

Got multiple Rebel Babes? Read these other posts about siblings: Life With Two (Real Talk Edition), Second Baby, I Love You, 4-Year-Olds Don’t Like Babies. Who Knew?