There is nothing more beautiful to me than the connection between a mother and her child. I am so thankful to do what I do and have the opportunity to photograph mothers with their children. Newborn sessions are especially precious to me for this reason. For nearly every newborn session I do, I almost insist that I snap at least a few pictures of the mother nursing her brand new babe. Those days of nursing a child can be many or few but no matter what, it’s a precious season that no mother will ever forget.
A few weeks ago I was in the home of one of my first newborn clients (whose mother is one of my closest friends). She and her family of 6 moved into their home almost a year ago and just last month she purchased a few wall prints from her newborn session with baby number 4, Lincoln. I made my way into his nursery and was brought to tears when I saw the image of her holding him in her arms at just 5 days old, nursing him during one of the “feeding / comforting” breaks during their newborn photo session. It’s a beautiful picture. In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, I texted her to ask if she would mind me posting it. Her response, “I was literally sitting in Lincoln’s room this morning looking at that picture thinking about how special it is and what it represents and how I’d like to share it.” This mama, Bambi, is the amazing mother of 4 children (ages 4 and under). To say she’s busy is a drastic understatement.
I’m so honored to have been able to provide her with this image and all the other beautiful images from their session. So, below are her words:
“Nursing went beautifully in the beginning. Aside from 3 bouts of mastitis. But, who’s counting and who cares? You get to nurse your baby right? Then at 7 months, 4 out of 6 of us got bacterial pneumonia; including me & Lincoln. When GG (one of their twins) was hospitalized, making the 30 minute drive home & back every 3 1/2 hours just wasn’t possible. He got a lot of bottles and Mommy was under a lot of stress. When all the dust settled, I had lost too much of my milk supply and he had gotten too used to the bottle. I fought hard to get it back for two weeks. Got up every 4 hours during the night to pump and almost OD’d on Mother’s Milk tea, but it didn’t work. I had to let it go. He was fine, but I was devastated. I was almost embarrassed and ashamed when I had to take out a bottle in public. Isn’t that sad? I felt like I was going to be judged by other moms. We absolutely have to be more supportive of everyone’s choices as mothers. We’re all doing the best we can. For me, that picture is so precious. It will remind me of those sweet moments and late nights where no one would due but Mommy. Moments I was blessed enough to share with each of my children… Mommy-hood is such a gift.”
