I miss my baby, I think to myself, as I look into the little face of my beautiful, funny 3-year-old. I tell her to “Please stop growing”, but of course, she can’t.
Age three is fun, but I can’t help but see the baby in her disappearing day by day as she creeps closer to four. Four feels so different to three, so grown up! Time goes so fast, but it feels lightning fast this time. Life in our world is changing. Soon they will all be in school, no more babies at home, which is an exciting milestone, but it’s equally terrifying.
It really does feel like I blinked, and she went from being my happy baby to a chatty pre-schooler. I’m reminding myself that time won’t slow down, no matter how I will it to. I tell myself to be present and grateful for these days.
Things are changing, It’s exciting. But I’m not ready just yet.
This little camera session is dedicated to one of my favourite things about Erin at the moment, tying her hair into a little bun. Something so little, but something I’m going to miss one day. This truly is our beautiful every day.
Document your days with your children, even the little moments.
I met Laura in her first few days of motherhood after welcoming beautiful baby Poppy. The shoot took place at her home, which is a total boho dream house. We spent the morning talking about pregnancy and birth (the stuff no one tells you!) and adjusting to life with a newborn. Laura opened up to me that she never thought motherhood was on the cards for her due to having polycystic ovary syndrome. This made the session feel all the more special. I was so grateful to be there, a small part of Laura and partner Chris’ journey to welcoming their beautiful miracle daughter and documenting their first few days together.
Read on for a Motherhood in Laura’s words.
Motherhood, in my words: Being a mum has completely changed my mental health. I’ve suffered from depression for years, but I actually began to feel myself getting better throughout my pregnancy. It forced me to focus on the here and now and be healthy, both physically and mentally.
Now that she’s here, I only think of the future; I’m not looking back anymore. I feel the happiness and contentment that had been missing for years. I’ve got PCOS, endometriosis and had a fallopian tube removed 10 years ago because of a tumour, so I never thought I’d be able to conceive naturally. Thankfully during a holiday, the stars aligned for us, and we were surprised to find out that I had fallen pregnant. ( months later, we welcomed our daughter Poppy into the world. She really is a gift, and I know how lucky I am to have her.
The best advice I have is to relax and not stress the little things. I’ve been really laid back, and even when she’s screaming in the middle of the night!!! I know it won’t last forever, and somehow, I keep calm. I think having patience is the key. I’d also really recommend doing an NCT course. Ours was great, mostly because of the lovely expecting parents we met. The support we new mums are giving each other is amazing, we’re all going through the same thing simultaneously, and that’s a great reassurance.
It’s incredibly special to help document Steffi’s breastfeeding journey with her daughter Grace as she deeply regretted not having photographs of herself feeding her firstborn. If you choose to (or can) breastfeed your baby, it becomes such a huge part of your motherhood story. It’s a journey. Sometimes an exhausting, emotional, painful one. However, it’s also an extraordinary, powerful and connected experience. One that is so fleeting. I love to capture it for my families, as I know that these images are some of the ones that will become the most treasured.
Newborn Photographer Cornwall | My Motherhood Story
When Melanie asked me about my motherhood story and what it means to me, my initial thoughts on answering this was simple. It means Everything. I’m probably going to be throwing out all the cliches in this piece, but I guess they are cliche for a reason because they are true, and they are relevant. Being a mother is my calling in life; it’s what I feel I was destined to be, and as soon as I became one, I felt complete. Everything just fell into place! I’m going to tell you a bit about my journey into motherhood so that it gives you an insight into why it’s so important to me.
When I was 15, I nearly died from anorexia. My doctors told me the chances of me having children were next to nothing. I then developed endometriosis and polycystic ovaries, which also contributed to my struggle to conceive. However, I met my extremely understanding husband, but we knew we wanted to start a family together. Surprisingly I did fall pregnant, but we sadly lost this baby; we then suffered a further 3 years of pain, heartbreak and lost hope. Eventually, I had an operation to treat my endometriosis and was told it would take 6 months for my body to regulate and then start trying; a month after the operation, I was pregnant with our beautiful daughter Bella!
Since then, we have also welcomed a gorgeous baby boy. Bella is now 2, and Jack is 4 months! They are my miracle rainbow babies. For me, nothing in this whole world compares to the feeling of growing life, giving birth and holding that tiny precious being in my arms, knowing I created it with the man I love. Something I never actually thought I would get the chance to experience. I knew at that moment, as soon as my first child was born, life would never be the same. As I had chosen to have children, and therefore, I knew that I would never again put myself first; their needs, their happiness would always come before mine.
Motherhood can be quite overwhelming at times. Knowing that these tiny humans, which are so so precious, are completely reliant on me! It can be daunting, questioning myself all the time, am I doing it right, is this the best way, should I do this or that. But then I look at my beautiful children, healthy and most importantly happy, and I know I’m doing just fine – I couldn’t be more proud.
Going into motherhood, I have learnt so many new life skills. One of which is surviving on little to no sleep, the word “mombie” is how I would best describe myself most days with 2 under 2! I think that’s what I have found most challenging. Going from one to 2 is a whole new ball game. Having to function day to day being sleep deprived is not easy! Days tend to blur into each other, a routine of nappy changing, bottle sterilising, Peppa pig and of course, laundry!
There is no perfect mother like there is no perfect child. But I know that we are perfect for each other in my family. I love them more than anything in the whole world. I will never take them for granted, and I will treasure every single moment with them.
I’m eternally grateful to Melanie for photographing us so beautifully. She captured the most amazing memories of my pregnancy and our newborn days. I know I will look back on them forever.
Looks like film featured this beautiful image from my pregnancy shoot with Olivia. This session was the dream! Not only are these two ridiculously beautiful (inside and out), they have so much love for each other and their (now) two babies. I’m delighted they trusted me to capture this incredible part of their journey together.
