Why you should take maternity photos – especially if it’s not your first baby!

I’ll be really honest with you. Over 10 years ago (!) when I was pregnant with my first baby, even I didn’t love the idea of maternity photos. We took some, mainly for Christmas cards that year, but I didn’t put a lot of time or attention into making them happen.

However, when I was pregnant the second time and expecting twins, it was so important to me to capture our family of 3 before we became a family of 5. Documenting the fleeting season with Harper as our only child is something I am so happy I made time for, as those pictures have only become more meaningful to me over the years.

I absolutely love looking back on her precious 1-year-old self poking my GIANT (and I do mean giant) belly. Thinking back to the time when we had no idea who those two little babies would be and what our family would really look like and what it would really be like to watch HQ as a big sister.

Adding a baby to your family is such a huge life event, and if you already have toddlers or other big siblings it can seem too busy and chaotic to try to squeeze in a maternity session when you’re about to do a newborn session anyway. But trust me – it is SO. WORTH. IT.

Capturing your family in the final weeks before baby arrives is something you can never get back. It’s such a sweet way to document this change in transition. An ending of one season and beginning of another.

“These are giving me all the feels. It’s just such a special time and I couldn’t ask for a better snapshot of the end of this season as a family of four. I haven’t been able to put into words how I feel, but now I’m crying and these photos are just so special and will literally be treasured forever.
I can’t ever thank you enough!”

L.D.

And of course, even if the focus is on capturing your whole family the way you are in this moment, I will always, always want to capture just you, too.

Chasing and cuddling and sitting toddlers on top of a pregnant belly is the sweetest, but there is something so beautiful and sacred about documenting you and your body and the miracle that it is doing right now.

In my experience, it’s harder to slow down and savor pregnancy once you have other littles, but even just a few minutes of it is so worth it. I’ll let you think and dream about meeting this little one and what they will be like, and I’ll grab a few photos of your beauty and that excitement (and then you can put your comfy pants back on…).

If you’re expecting and want to document this season before babe arrives, email me and let’s make it happen! I promise to make it easy, fun, and one of your favorite family memories of your pregnancy.

Check out more of my maternity work here!