Maternity Photos

I wasn’t planing to take maternity pictures this pregnancy. My friend captured some family photos for us on the beach this past November when my 18 week bump was just starting to protrude, and I figured that was good enough for documenting this pregnancy. The girls were smiling in those pictures, and I didn’t really want to risk another shoot at 30+ weeks pregnant where toddler meltdowns may occur.

But then I slowly changed my mind…

People ask if this is my last pregnancy, and the true answer is, “I don’t know.” When I see the veins running up and down my legs and feel the pain in my lower back and think about my age, my answer is, “Yes. This is my last one. Although I’ve had good pregnancies, I don’t know if I could handle another one. My body hurts.” But then I think about how I would love to have a big family and how the small cost of pregnancy doesn’t even compare to the treasured child that results from it. And I think about how God is ultimately in control of our fertility and child-bearing and child-raising and I change my answer to “Maybe… maybe we will have another biological child. Maybe we will adopt. Maybe we will just have three kids. I don’t really know.”

One of my students is a really talented photographer, so I finally asked if she would take some maternity photos for me on the beach. At first, I was just going to do portraits of me and the bump while the girls were at school one day, but then I got a bad cold and had to postpone the pictures. They got pushed back to a Friday when the girls would be home from school, so I thought, “Why not include the whole family?” Then I had to convince Micah to hurry home before sunset and wear his work clothes on the beach with bare feet. At first he was skeptical (“People don’t wear dress slacks on the beach!”), but I showed him some “fancy” family beach shoots on Pinterest and persuaded him. I had the girls wear their pink Easter dresses. I am due on Easter weekend, so I wanted to make sure they got to wear their dresses at least once, just in case the baby is very prompt.

The result? I love them. I am so happy I decided to do maternity photos. I’m glad I included the whole family. And I love that I have photos to document all three of my pregnancies, all taken around 33 weeks. Pregnancy is such a gift, and these photos will  help me treasure this season long after the back-pain and ugly veins have faded away.

*If you are in Orange County and looking for an affordable, talented photographer, my amazing student Abby Sue is available. You can DM her on Instagram or send her a message on Facebook for more details.