Demi | Baton Rouge Birth + Motherhood Photography

“If time has taught me anything, it’s that our differences are what makes this life unique.  None of us are exactly like the other, and that is a good thing because there’s no right way to be.  The room mom, the working mother, the woman without children, the retired grandma, the mom who co-sleeps, the mama who bottle -fed her baby, the strict mom, the hipster mom, the one who lets her kid go shoeless, or the one who enrolls her baby in music enrichment classes at birth--whoever, whatever, you are, you’re adding spice and texture and nuance into this big beautiful soup of modern-day parenting.”

Girl, Wash Your Face - Rachel Hollis

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I could sit here and blab in a multitude of pieced together words about the scope of emotion I've felt over the past few months, learning so much about myself, life, love, family, and entrepreneurship, but no words could truly articulate how overwhelmingly beautiful the learning experience has been. 

Demi's birth day was full of beautiful human connection, support, and love.  As Duston held Deirdre's hand through every painful contraction and kissed her forehead every-so-often for supporting reassurance, I found myself watching from the other side of the room with the most content grin painted on my face.  There's something about the various ways that partners show support for one another during births that sends a reminder to the core of what life's about.  Similar to the ethereal feeling that comes over me when couples recite custom-written vows to one another, it's just one of those moments where I feel like I have to pinch myself and ask if it's real life that I make my living documenting moments that make people feel in such monumental ways.  I could not be happier than to be where I am right now, in this moment.

I hope you enjoy a glimpse into some of the intense, quiet, and love-filled moments captured during Demi's first few days in this world...

Welcoming Rodge | Baton Rouge Birth Photographer

“Good news!  Tomorrow is a new day.  Tomorrow you’ll count to ten before you lose your temper, and maybe they’ll eat every bite of the dinner you made and say something so hilarious you’ll think, Man people without kids are totally missing out!  You will experience every kind of day as a mama, and you will need to accept the grab bag of good, bad, ugly, awesome, magical, and miserable days as a parent. You don’t have to get it right all the time. You don’t have to do things like anybody else’s mom.

You only have to care.”

Girl, Wash Your Face - Rachel Hollis

As I've taken on a new realm of photography with birth photojournalism, it's been such an exhilarating journey.  From the hours of connection, quiet, and vulnerable moments during laboring, to the sleepless and unsure first days of parenting, we have several weeks of fairly consistent communication and time spent together. By my clients keeping in such contact with me about their unique journey, feelings, and even struggles during this time, it allows me to truly enter into their lives, hospital rooms, and homes with my role as a quiet observer. 

Before contacting me to document their birth, I knew Sarah and Justin only as acquaintances and sibling-in-laws to a close friend of mine.  After the weeks leading up to Rodge's birth, the moments scaling in emotion in the hospital room, and spending a few hours hanging with them when they were settled back home after his birth, I left feeling like I truly connected with them as a family, documenting this beautiful budding season of life with raw authenticity.

Here are those days...