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20th June 2023
03:21pm BST
A mum did a full face of makeup including false lashes while in labour so she would look perfect for the birth - and she says it didn't budge despite "hours of crying".
Tina Aragon decided after her first pregnancy that she wanted to get glammed up, so she looked flawless in photos for any future children she had.
The 24-year-old cosmetologist fell pregnant with her second baby in March 2022 and packed her hospital bag with the essentials and her full glam kit.
When Tina went into labour on October 26, she spent an hour and a half applying a "full glam" make-up look from her hospital bed - including huge false eyelashes - while 5cm dilated.
The mum-of-two breathed through agonising contractions while blending her foundation - and had an epidural injection mid-way through powdering her face.
Tina claims doctors were shocked - and warned her eyelashes would be long gone by the next day - but she said her make-up didn't budge at all.
Tina believed giving birth "looking like a bad b****" helped her have the confidence to "conquer labour" - and recommend other expectant mothers give it a go.
Tina, from Pueblo, Colorado, said: "I was half dilated and was sat bored just waiting - I started getting in my own head and stressing about what might happen. "So, I said ‘give me my make-up’ and started my go-to glam look.
"Doctors were shocked - and as soon as I had the eyelashes on, it made all the difference.
"I kept telling myself to 'breathe and blend' through my contractions - and I had powder setting on my face as I got my epidural.
"I wondered how long it would last especially as I had a couple of hours of shedding tears, but it literally lasted the whole night - until I was ready to wipe it off myself. "It was really helpful because it cleared my mind of the pain, and it kept my mentality strong.
"I knew I could do it because I looked good, and I would 100 per cent recommend others try it."
Tina found a love of make-up after coming out of a dark place in her late teens where she was taking heroine and meth.
She trained and became a cosmetologist so she could pursue her passion - and it kept her on track with her addiction recovery, she said.
After having her first child, Marzia Marie, now four, in December 2018, she decided she wanted to be made up for her next birth - just like she is in every other aspect of her life.
She said: "One, it's good promotion for my work, and two, when we’re taking pictures for all those special moments, I want to look good.
"Also, it's like a therapy for me. I knew it would be a way for me to relax."
When she found out she would be having a little boy in October 2022, she knew her plan already.
Tina realised it might be a difficult birth, as doctors had detected a heart problem with her baby before he was born.
This made her even more sure she wanted to do her make-up in labour - because it would help her to stay calm despite a stressful birth.
On October 26, 2022, when she began experiencing stomach pains at 5am, husband Payton Aragon, 28, a home inspector, took her into Denver's Children’s Hospital.
Doctors wanted to make sure they were supervising Tina because of the baby's heart defect - hypoplastic right heart syndrome - so she came into the hospital from the early stages of labour.
Tina was sat waiting for hours in early labour before she started getting full contractions, but over time they grew stronger.
Tina said: "I was sat bored just waiting and I started getting in my own head. "I said ‘give me my make-up’ and started my go-to glam look.
"It was nothing super crazy, it was just the perfect thing to do while at the time in labour."
As contractions started to kick in when she hit 5cm dilation, Tina used her make-up as a distraction from the pain.
Her make-up took an hour and a half to finish, complete with false lashes and a wig - by which time she was 7cm dilated.
She even sat with powder setting on her face while getting an epidural half-way through her make-up routine.
Tina said doctors were shocked and midwives warned it would get messed up during birth - but her mind was made up. After giving birth to tiny Pierce Champ Aragon, now seven months old, Tina had 15 minutes with him before he was rushed off to be wired up to a heart machine.
But that was enough time for Tina and Payton to get some sweet pictures with their baby son - with Tina's make-up still looking flawless 24 hours later.
Pierce is now doing well at home - he no longer on oxygen, eating by himself and doctors are happy with his weight gain.
She reckons expectant mums who enjoy wearing make-up should give mid-labour makeovers a go.
Tina said: "I knew I could do it, because I looked good, and it made me feel like I was at my strongest.
"I didn't collapse or feel too vulnerable - it brought me to the point where I needed to be.
"It literally lasted the whole night until I was ready to wipe it off myself.
"I was proud of myself for that makeup - to be able to do that for myself as a makeup artist in a vulnerable moment was special."
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