You Can Now Watch a Birth Happen in Real Time . . . on Instagram

... And so it begins! We were expecting this #instabirthstory to be a fast one based on this mama's history with her 2 boys but we'll see!

POPSUGAR: How'd your first #InstaBirthStory come about?

Cate DePrisco: It started by accident in the middle of a shoot. This couple was doing a home birth. I asked if I live documented the birth on Instagram, and they said, "That's totally fine but don't mention our names or show our faces or tag us." They weren't telling some family members they were in labor yet and didn't want others to know they were doing a home birth. So, I kept it minimal but days went by and they finally had to go to the hospital. I still held off, but eventually they said to go ahead and post — it kept family from asking them about the progress. I started receiving messages asking if everything was OK, and I loved being able to be that middle man, to be able to answer questions on behalf of the parents and keep everyone updated.

Dad watches on while Mom is checked to see how much she's progressed since yesterday. There hasn't been any progress.

PS: When did you realize this was a new way of capturing birth?

CD: Honestly, I didn't realize people didn't do it. I started doing research, and I'd find people who tweeted their own birth or people who would post a couple of photos on Instagram of their own labor experience.

Mom's first two deliveries were fast — so fast, in fact, that she never had an IV. This is the first IV she's ever had, and she says it's weird.

PS: It's such an intimate time for new parents. Is there an approval process before posting any photos?

CD: I'm still figuring all of that out. For the first one, I was showing her before I posted every photo. But when things got more intense, I decided that I'm just going to make the executive decision.

If you're using me as your birth photographer, there's no obligation to do an Instagram story. So they get 100 percent approval for me to share photos, but beyond that, there's trust there. I post what tells the story, and I've chosen not to post a couple of photos, some breastfeeding shots, and I'm not going to post a picture of the baby with the head coming out. I will take that photo and share it with the family, but it's not something I would post. I've learned that people are so different about what they're private about, and that's totally fine. I keep private things protected.

I'm really curious for what will happen if there's an emergency. That's one thing I haven't hit yet. In that situation, of course the family is most important. There'd probably be a lag in posts, and I wouldn't update until the time was right.

Because the IV is something new for this mom, getting around is taking some getting used to.

PS: Do you ever get nervous about overstepping the parents' birth announcement?

CD: I always check before posting to make sure they've notified whatever family that they want to before even disclosing the baby's gender. I of course wait to reveal the name until everyone's ready.

For their second baby, Dad was in the early stages of medical school. Whenever something would happen he'd [be] jumping in and wanting to know what was going on. Finally the Dr said, "Today you are here for your wife, not to learn. Stop asking questions!" Well, today, he's stopped asking questions and is incredibly calm.

PS: How do you shoot and post in real time with so much going on?

CD: As I'm shooting, I'm constantly thinking about what I'm going to post and how I'm going to piece the story together. It helps me be more selective with what I'm shooting. My camera has WiFi capabilities, so I sync pictures to my phone. I pull the image in whatever downtime there is. You have to be quick. I have a tendency to get excited, and I want to share all the photos. But, with Instagram, you could post a shot and 10 minutes later, the image you get might be a little stronger, but you're not going to post it again. So, you have to play the odds a bit and remember that things are changing every second.

For the most time, I'm posting as it happens. Delivery, though, is less real time. My priority is to get the photo. I'm not going to be spending time uploading one photo only to miss taking another.

"Is this helping?" I asked. "No, not really. But we've tried everything else so we might as well give it a try! And I'm bored," she said.

PS: Your Instagram captions tell such a captivating story, too. Is it hard to keep that up?

CD: I'm just there picking up on things. I love telling stories, and photos even can't fully do it sometimes, especially for nervous family members refreshing the feed. I'm observing what's going on around me and jotting down notes as I go. In fact, I'm still learning about birth. There are still a lot of things I may have written about that weren't fully correct because I was relaying what was said at the time.

Baby is head down according to this sonogram which is the right way to be for a vaginal delivery. But things are still moving super slow and steady which is not what we were expecting...

PS: Do you ever take over the mom's Instagram account?

CD: I keep the photos to my own Instagram account. People know to come here if they want to see the story. The family can regram or share however they'd like.

We've officially been here over 3 hours now. Mom is finally feeling some contractions but she's still up and about.

PS: It's one thing to have a birth photographer, but why do you think women are responding to this form of live documentation?

CD: It's a great way to be in the moment and focusing on you instead of notifying family with minute-to-minute updates. You won't be distracted, but you can still have your friends and family keep up and be there, in a sense. It's great for people who have loved ones who live out of town. In fact, one was a scheduled C-section, and she was telling all her friends and family leading up to it, "If you want to follow along . . ."

It's not for everyone, but if you're at all considering it, I'd absolutely do it.

Mom's blood pressure is being checked about every 30 minutes. So far so good.

When the nurse walked in Mom and Dad informed her she just had a contraction. "Good!" she said, "because I asked the other nurses out there what I should tell you and they said have the photographer leave and we will put a sign on the door that says do not disturb for a little while and we'd leave you two... Alone."

Med Student Dad just taught mom how to read the charts to see if she's having a contraction. She doesn't have an epidural, but she's not feeling the contractions the same way she has in the past. Today, they're in the bum instead of her back and they're not very strong... At least not yet.

There are contractions now but they still aren't regular. Mom has been standing or sitting on the exercise ball since she arrived at the hospital but she finally decided to lay down and rest a bit. The nurse [put] what is called a "peanut" between her legs to open up her hips some more to hopefully encourage the cervix to drop a little more which would thus bring baby down, too. It's been fun swapping stories of photography and hearing about their other two births... But now it's time to rest before things pick up.

Mom is finally feeling the contractions and is becoming less comfortable. The conversation has subsided as she rests.

Mom resting.

The nurse checked for progress and it's being made. There's still a ways to go but it's moving forward.

Dad's shoes.

... The contractions are getting stronger but Mom is handling them with pure, beautiful grace.

It's 2:30am... Is it too late for a midnight snack?

"You snooze you lose" he says.

We're at a 6 and breaking the water.

"Honey, we're about to have a baby!"

Some studies show that the hands and knees position makes it much easier to push the baby out, so this Mom gave it a try. (I'm not a Doctor or a trained medical professional)

"I can't do it. I can't!" she said. "YOU CAN!" they said. "PUSH!" they said. With the final push 2 people came running in to see if help was needed, but it was too late. SHE DID IT in 39 minutes from the time the water was broken until the baby was born.

The baby went right to skin-to-skin without hardly making a sound. At that point the Midwife reminded the entire team that studies show this is incredibly important to do because it calms the baby since the heartbeat is the sound he/she knows best.

"We did it" she said.

The family has been notified of this baby's birth, gender, and name so I can finally announce it! Please say hello to #babyboy Britton Asher, born at 3:31am this morning to @adaytoadore and Kendall!