When a family comes to me for newborn photography they are in a beginning of a brand new journey. Especially when it's their first baby. Their life has a whole new meaning. They are feeling the kind of love they never felt before and are responsible for the life of this tiny little human. They are parents now.
For Zac and Zoe's parents the journey getting to this point was very long and challenging. Their mommy Jen is sharing her story with you. If you are having difficulty getting pregnant I hope she inspires you. And one thing I will add, shortly after these two cuties were born, she found out that she was pregnant again. She said it was the shock of her life. All natural and unexpected. I am looking forward to photographing their new baby in a few months.
I chose to not let the IVF process overtake my life...
" Soon after getting married my husband and I decided to start trying for a baby. We were so excited but then each month would pass and no pregnancy. We started to track ovulation and be a little more purposeful and still no results. Finally after a year of trying we decided to seek help. At first I was given Clomid by my OB which I was told would make me “super ovulate” I took this medication for three months and still no results. We then were referred to a fertility clinic and found out we were facing some serious obstacles and that IVF would be the only answer for us. We went through the first cycle and were left with no viable embryo’s at the end. We then had to go through another round this time we had 2 viable embryos. We transferred these 2 embryos and to our disappointment they didn’t take.
At the time it was one of the most heartbreaking experiences. I took a few months off and changed my diet completely and started a good supplement and acupuncture routine. I also chose to not let the IVF process overtake my life and didn’t give it too much thought. I was scared to go through another round just to fail again but ultimately decided I would have to keep trying until we had our family so we went back for round three. This time we had much better results - 5 viable embryos! We decided to transfer the 2 healthiest embryos and both took!
The joy I felt when I found out I was pregnant was unlike any joy I’ve ever felt. I remember smiling and feeling like I was was truly smiling for the first time in my life. I enjoyed every second of my pregnancy and I still miss being pregnant and having that closeness with my babies.
When my babies were born it was the best day of my life. When I was able to hold them I remember just staring at them and the nurse said she was looking at my monitors and that I actually stopped breathing - they literally took my breath away. These tiny sweet amazing babies who I had been fighting for were finally here and in that moment it all made sense. These were my babies and they are here for a reason. All of the pain and waiting was all worth it and I would do it a thousand times again if that meant having them here with me. I still look at them and feel so much gratitude and an overwhelming amount of love for my babies."
What advice would you give to someone who is expecting their first baby?
"Throughout the pregnancy try to enjoy it as much as possible! This is the one time in your life when your baby can hear your heart beating from inside you. This is the start of such an amazing bond so savor it. Put your feet up and relax and eat all the food you want!
Go into the delivery process with an open mind. I heard all kinds of stories about twin births and was mentally prepared for anything to happen. I have heard so many stories from moms saying they had one plan and then found themselves doing literally the opposite and feeling super scared. I decided to trust that everything was going to work out exactly as it should and it did. Our delivery and hospital stay had its share of ups and downs so keeping myself open and flexible gave me the support I needed to deal with anything unexpected.
We had arranged for a postpartum doula to be with us nights from 7pm-7am starting the first night back from the hospital. I cannot recommend this enough! We were in the hospital for four nights and it was exhausting. Being able to come home and know that your babies are safe in the other room while catching up on sleep was invaluable. Our doula was with us for just 2.5 weeks which gave us a good start into learning the basics and empowering us to take on twin parenting! It’s not cheap to have this service but looking back this was by far the best money spent.
One last piece of advice would be as a new parent you will plan ahead and think you will parent a certain way, but once you’re actually in it with two infants your plans can change. For instance I really thought I was going to cloth diaper. The YouTube tutorials make it look so easy, it will be a breeze I thought. Flash forward to having two babies and piles of laundry that never end and I had second thoughts. We can barely stay on top of the regular laundry I can’t imagine being organized enough to add cloth diapers to the laundry routine. It’s OK for this to happen and totally fine and normal."
Why was it important for you to have a newborn photography session?
"After going through so much to have our little miracles I wanted to make sure we captured this very brief moment in time when they were so tiny. I look back at these photos all the time and feel so happy that we decided to have them photographed as newborns. I will cherish these for a lifetime!"
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