We hire professional photographers for all sorts of events.  It would be a cardinal sin to not hire a photographer for your wedding day!  I still look back on my wedding photos and replay the day over and over in my head.  Not only do I get to remember the day from my own wonderful experience, but I get to envision the emotion and anticipation from everyone involved because of the amazing photographs I have of family and friends, and of course, my groom :).  While I was locked away in a tiny room with my best friends, aunts and mom … there were all sorts of things happening on the “outside” that I would have never been able to experience without the help of my photographer, Scott Livermore (who is an AMAZING photo journalistic wedding photographer). Yet, for some reason most of us don’t even consider hiring a photographer for what many would say is THE most spectacular day of your entire life.  While, there aren’t many days that can top my wedding day, I think Mike and I would both agree that the birth of our daughter, whose face is plastered all over this blog, trumps our wedding day a million to one!  To witness, let alone experience the miracle of birth is one of those extraordinary gifts that nothing can replace … yet, we don’t ensure that those memories are captured forever.

I know I know, I was just like most of you.  I wanted the actual event to be private, while my entire family and a room full of friends waited impatiently outside. I’m a modest girl and I wanted this experience to be between me and Mike and our new baby girl, Mia Grace  …  oh, and the 16 nurses, anesthesiologist, pediatrician, OBGYN that come in and out during the entire labor and delivery.  I thought I would never forget the details of the day.  How I felt the first time I held my baby girl in my arms, the look on Mike’s face when he saw her for the first time, how Mia Grace’s lip stuck out a mile in the cutest little pout you’ve ever seen.  While, there are moments that are ingrained in my mind forever, I can’t help but wonder  what details I might have lost if I hadn’t enlisted my mom as the photographer at the last second and the details I did lose because I didn’t hire a professional.  You see, I didn’t think about the pain medications I would be on and how my mind wouldn’t be clear, or how I would be alone with the doctor for a bit after the birth, while everyone watched the nurses wash her dark curly hair and checked her from head to toe. And, I didn’t consider what a blessing it would have been to have a professional photographer there to capture every little detail that was lost in the excitement of the experience, just like my wedding day.

At the moment the nurse said “it’s time”.  I remember my mom leaving the room as planned, when I spur of the moment told her to stay.  I think she was a little reluctant, but I am so so proud of her for taking that camera in hand and photographing the birth of her first grandbaby like a pro.  I often give my parents a hard time, telling them they are the reason I am a professional photographer (because they are terrible photographers and they bought me my first DSLR!), but this time I can’t thank her enough for the images I now have. Needless to say, next time, we will hire a birth photographer and you should too! I didn’t have 30×40 wall portraits printed of any of these, but I look at them often and tear up every time I see them.  They are such a treasure to me and I am so very thankful for the few I do have …

And after I snapped this photo of the two of us early the next morning, I knew in my heart I wanted to take images like this for other people.  I was obsessed with capturing the extraordinary moment, the connection … the love.  I still always want to capture the love.  There is nothing glamorous about the way I look here. No makeup. My face is swollen. In many ways, it doesn’t even look like me.  But in the stillness of the early morning hours when I took this image, I distinctly remember my obsession with capturing this moment.  I wasn’t concerned with looking great or remembering what Mia Grace looked like at one day old. I had a million other snapshots to remind me of that.  I wanted, I NEEDED to remember that moment, that feeling, the overwhelming love of another human being whom I had just met.  And now, every time I see this image, my heart takes me back to that morning when I woke up and started to cry because I missed Mia Grace. It was literally like 4 am, and she was sleeping in the nursery so I could get some rest.  I remember thinking how insane it was that I was crying and missing a baby who I had known for like 12 hours, when it dawned on me that I could just call the nurses and tell them to bring her to me … after all, she was mine 🙂  When they brought her in, we spent a few hours together while Mike slept next to us.  I’ll never forget the promises I made to her and to God and to myself in those moments, and I have to say my memory wouldn’t be nearly as vivid as it is today without this image.  Let me capture this image for you!

With all of that said, and it had to be said for you to really “get” what I am saying.  I want to capture your extraordinary day!  Love, Me is currently looking for ONE family who wants their miracle photographed.  If you are pregnant and must have me capture the birth of your child, please email me asap.  This is a casting call in order to build my portfolio in birth photography and my gift to you and your family.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so dont miss out! Hurry and contact me as the spot will surely fill quickly.  Stay tuned for more information regarding Love, Me’s birth photography services.