Carolyn’s maternity photography session captured a beautiful, destined moment in her life. This bundle of joy brings a round of firsts not only for the couple but for their extended family as this will be the first grandchild! Carolyn wants her child to grow up knowing how much she is loved and with a sense of empowerment, so this photoshoot is as much for her as it is for her baby: to show her the beauty and strength that exists within a woman's body.
There was no mistaking it - it clearly read pregnant
"In June 2021, I received a Tarot reading from a spiritual friend. She pulled one card and described a theme for each of the next 6 months ahead. December’s card was The Star, which can signify blessings from the universe, and the theme was “a new phase of family”. I remember not thinking too much of it at the time; my husband and I were in the midst of planning a long trip abroad for September, and my sister was getting married in October. Between those two events, our attention and focus were pretty much occupied. We had talked about trying for a baby in the near future, once we had made it through our busy fall schedule.
At the beginning of December, I looked back on my notes from the reading. Now that we were more focused on a baby and had been trying for a couple of months now, the “new phase of family” message resonated differently. A thought creeped in the back of my mind - “It’s going to happen this month.” But, I tried to silence it as much as I could so as not to get my hopes up. I kept telling myself that a “new phase of family” could be interpreted in so many different ways. I can be really hard on myself, and I didn’t want to wind up disappointed at the end of the month.
A couple of days before Christmas Eve, I decided to take a pregnancy test. My period was three days late, and I didn’t want to be stressing about “am I or am I not” while we were trying to enjoy the holiday with my family. I was so nervous waiting for the results...after the time had passed, I looked back down at the stick and gasped at what I saw - the faintest second line! Both my husband and I work from home, so he was just in a different room at the time. I was so excited, and also just wanted some confirmation that I wasn’t “seeing things”, so I burst out of the bathroom and yelled his name. “Tell me that isn’t a faint second line?!” I called out, holding up the test. He looked at it, raised his eyebrows, and said, “Oh my god, yes I think it is!” I took a second test later in the day - the second line was slightly darker. The next day, I went to buy a test with a digital readout. This time there was no mistaking it - it clearly read “Pregnant”. I was feeling so many emotions at once - excited that I was going to be a mom, relieved that my partner and I were able to conceive, terrified that something would now happen to the baby, and amazed that the spiritual message turned out to be what I was hoping for.
We shared the news with our immediate family very soon after. We had a ski trip planned with my family for one of the first weeks of January. I was not comfortable skiing now knowing I was pregnant, but I knew it would be very strange for me to just back out of the trip with no explanation. Plus, we wanted to share the news with the people closest to us! We have a chocolate lab puppy, and so we ordered a little bandana for her that said “Soon-to-be Big Sister”. We brought her over to our parents’ houses wearing the bandana, and waited for someone to realize what it said. When they did, they were SO happy and excited for us. This will be the first grandchild for our parents, so it’s a big moment for everyone!
After our first prenatal appointment, I decided I wanted to start writing weekly notes to the baby in a little journal. I finished the first one by signing “Love, Mom”. Looking down at those words on the page, it really hit me - I was going to be “Mom” to this baby. That was the moment that I truly realized I was going to become a mother. I am so grateful to be on this pregnancy journey. It’s given me a profound appreciation for my body and what it is capable of. That’s one of the reasons it was so important to me to capture this moment with professional photographs. I wanted to celebrate my body and honor all of the changes that it’s going through. To me, these photographs are empowering. I am having a daughter, and one thing I hope for her is that she is never ashamed of her body. I want to teach her to appreciate her body at every step, every stage of life - and these photos are, in a way, me leading by example."
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