I loved photographing this sweet mama and learning more about her motherhood journey! She has such a beautiful outlook on motherhood and it was a joy to hear her story. Ashley has three Earth-side babies and is due any day with her final baby. I had the wonderful chance to document her with her son, Rad, and baby number four on the way.

Tell us about your motherhood journey
My mothering journey goes as far back as I can remember, like an ancestral design that is so ingrained in my being. I can remember as a young girl always “pretending” that I was pregnant and then going into labor and ultimately birthing my baby. I would come up with all these unique names and then take care of my babies as if they were real.
My motherhood journey started 13 years ago with a surprise pregnancy at 21 years old. I was so excited and also a bit nervous as I was young and didn’t have much to give as far as stability, but I had love and I gave him every bit of it!
Liam Daniel Dean born June 11th, 2009
10 years later after getting married, my husband and I began to consciously call in our first baby together (my second baby). Within 2 months we found out our baby was with us. Our second son was born and I too was reborn.
Rad Carsen Lee born September 21st, 2019
I had an unmediated labor and birth in a hospital setting and felt elevated to a whole new level. I did it, I had my baby without any interventions and I knew I wanted to do it all again.
We stated to call in baby #3. This conscious conception took me to deep places within myself as this baby didn’t come to us as quickly as our last baby.
Eventually she did, our first baby girl after two beautiful boys.
Murphie Lilyann Mae born October 2nd, 2021
My daughters birth was the wild card birth. She was born in less than one hour from active labor starting and under two hours total. We barely made it into our birthing room and she was born eleven minutes later.
I leaned in and listened and knew I needed something different, I knew my birth cycle as mother was not complete.
Going back to 2019 I was led down a journey of undisturbed/physiological birth and it instantly became a light within my soul. I felt this strong pull to tap into my deep intuition and bring one of my future babies earth side all on my own terms as my loved ones hold space. A true family centered birth.

We are in that space now awaiting the birth of our final baby, baby #4, our first surprise sex baby show could literally come any day now.

What is one thing you wish you would have known before becoming a mom?
I wish I would have known more about informed consent that we, as birthing women, have more power and control than we are educated about. I wish I would have known that not all women can exclusively breastfeed due to many variables and that it’s okay to make the best choice for you and your baby.

Any advice to new moms?
Trust your body and your baby; they know exactly what they are doing.
Ask all the questions, join all the groups, and do as much research as you can before making your final decision.
Breastfeeding is not all or nothing.

What is something you are hoping to learn in the next year?
I hope to learn new ways of balancing a family of 6. Having a teenager and 3 babies under 4 years old will be a big journey but I’m so ready for it. I hope to learn more about myself as a mother who is closing the chapter on my child bearing years. This feels like so much of my identity and I’m really struggling with the concept of never being pregnant, giving birth, or having a newborn again.