Only mothers know and understand the experience of going through excruciating hours of labor pain. It takes a lot of physical work and mental strength for mothers to give birth.

In the case of 33-year-old Angel Taylor, her little bundle of joy decided to test her resolve for four arduous days before leaving the womb. And, when he arrived, he did it in style! When the doctors pulled the newborn out, he had his arms in the air and a smile on his face.

It is only when baby Sullivan grows up that he will realize the health risks, worries, and intense labor his mother underwent to bring him into this world.

A routine pregnancy evaluation disclosed that Angel was suffering from high blood pressure, and she would have to prepare for delivery a week earlier than the expected due date. She was soonadmitted to the hospital. However, since there was no dilation, doctors administered small doses of a hormone to induce contractions. Given her last pregnancy, which was a C-section, doctors decided against giving her an active induction, or else there was a life-threatening risk of a uterine rupture and the baby getting stressed.

This meant that Angel had to wait for nature to take its course and go through slow labor. What she didn’t expect was four days of agonizing labor. After she had dilated four centimeters and the delivery procedure began, doctors learned that the baby could not come out of the birth canal. Eventually, doctors performed a C-section to welcome Sullivan, who greeted everyone in the room with outstretched arms and a grin. A few minutes later, his dad kneeled down by his wife’s head, most probably praying and thanking Allah.

Speaking to People, Angel said, “I thought it was just so funny because he would be like that in my belly, he was always stretching. We’d tell him, ‘You’d have so much more room to stretch if youjust came out!” And when he came out, that’s exactly what he did. It was a big relief. We were worried about how he would do… He was in really good shape!”

She is now enjoying motherhood and feels that Sullivan has fit right in the family. “He is the chillest baby. He is really sweet and calm. He hardly ever cries. He just loves to snuggle and is very sweet. My older kids love him and are just always wanting to hold him.”

Sullivan’s birth was beautifully captured through the lens of birth photographer Laura Shockley, for whom it was her first experience with C-section photography.