In-Home Maternity Session in Flint, Michigan | Hannah & David
Cozy Moments At Home Before Baby
Hannah & David have come to be dear friends since they moved to the Flint area about two years ago. When they reached out about documenting this season of their lives, I was especially excited to photograph their in-home maternity session in their beautiful historic Flint home.
Their nursery is stocked and ready! Like the camera is on the wall, clothes are washed and hung, book shelves are full. They are on top of it! Can't say I was in the same place with my first.
I do not take for granted how special it is photographing a couple in the home they've built together right before that home changes forever.
Hannah and David love to read and are huge Kansas City fans. They can't wait to open the windows to welcome the cool fall air and enjoy cozy days filled with football. Their first child, Bear, is anticipating something coming and is trying her best to deal.
In My Experience: Welcoming the First
A baby changes everything.
I don't know about you, but change has always been scary for me. I can feel it in my bones when even small change is approaching. That could be from all the change I experienced with moving several times growing up (don't worry I have worked on this in therapy).
Welcoming a child for the first time comes with a lot of unknowns. For the pregnant woman, your body changes so rapidly in such a short amount of time. This experience is so different for everyone. Personally, I never felt like myself when I was pregnant and I felt guilty for not enjoying it when I knew so many people longed to be pregnant. It seemed like the only women I talked to shared that they felt SO AMAZING when they were pregnant and were very caught off guard when I shared a very different experience!
With each pregnancy I had to learn that my pregnancy was my own. My experiences, feelings, and journey were valid. None of those things discounted the beauty of the process for me or for someone else. I learned to value each mom's journey because I experienced my own firsthand.
So to the moms who are doing this for the first time, my encouragement to you is to give yourselves so much grace. There isn't a "right" experience. Your job is to give yourself grace and care for yourself as best you can as you move through this season.
Your body changes, the rooms of your home changes, your life's priorities make some shifts. These are intimidating things. But, I promise on the other side you will find that love feels a little bigger and life feels a little fuller.
This is one of the reasons I love in-home maternity sessions so much. We aren't just documenting a growing belly. We're documenting the home, the routines, the people, and the little pieces of life that are about to change. Years from now, these photographs won't just show what Hannah looked like while she was pregnant. They'll remember what their home felt like before Bear became a big sibling.
Cheers to the days ahead, momma!
