BABY SCHELHORN | NEWBURGH IN NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

Baby Schelhorn | Newburgh, IN Newborn Photographer

I have a confession. I used to believe that maternity pictures were a waste of time and money. I never did maternity photos and when clients would book maternity shoots I would be excited to spend time with my clients, but completely confused as to why in the world they would want to do that type of session.

In full disclosure, I am not a woman who loved being pregnant. In fact, I strongly disliked being pregnant. I was sick much of the time, uncomfortable and just felt like a bloated mess. Not to mention, I had to limit my caffeine intake – and we know how much I love (and require) my caffeine.

This is not to say I didn’t love what was happening inside me. The miracle of pregnancy completely blows my mind and leaves me in awe. With all four of my pregnancies I was completely fascinated by the awesomeness of pregnancy and childbirth. I could not wait to meet the miracles I was nurturing and growing. I just simply didn’t like the physical toll it took on me or the way I looked.

All that to say, I just didn’t see the need for maternity photos. Where would I put them? What would I do with them? I assumed they’d sit on a USB and I’d never look at them, let alone print them and display them in my home.

I regret that decision. I HIGHLY regret that decision. It is only recently that I realized this. I am done having kids and know that I will never be pregnant again and I wish I had documented that time in my life. Not just for me, but for my kids. They deserve to have these images.

Let me explain. Think back to when you were young. Think about how you thought about your parents. They were just your parents, right? They were your chef, maid, chauffeur, Santa, Easter Bunny, homework helper, bedtime enforcer, etc right? But that’s it. In your eyes, they were always those people. You likely never thought about who your parents were before they were mom and dad. It isn’t until you’re a bit older, when you’re beginning to become an adult yourself, that you start to wonder who your mom was before she was mom. You start to wonder what she looked like, what she did for fun, who her friends were, where she traveled, etc. Photos tell our story. They SHOW our children who we were. They are visual representations of who we were before we were all those things listed above.

I wish I had photos of myself during my pregnancies to show my children who I was before they were ever conceived. I want them to know that I was a person with ambitions, interests and goals. I want them to see how my life was before them and I want them to see how incredibly excited we were for their arrival. I wish I had pictures of just my husband and me in our home doing the things we did before our days were filled with preschool, tball and refereeing arguments over toys. I so wish there were photos of Matt and I playing board games and cuddled up watching American Idol – because that is what we did before we were parents. Those pictures don’t exist though.

We are in the middle moving my grandmother out of her home that she has lived in for nearly 60 years and I was looking through photos albums and I saw a photo of her when she was in a college beauty pageant and I was just in awe. Before she was grandma (or even mom) she was a college beauty queen. She was this extremely exquisite and stunning woman and it was so neat for me to see her in that way. One of my favorite photos of my mom and is of her pregnant with my sister and I am sitting on her belly. I can’t tell you how many times I thought of that photo when I was pregnant with my children. I’d be lying on the couch and have one of my older kids crawling on me and my big belly and I’d think about how I was living the same situation as my mom once did nearly 30 years before.

I am so happy that I was able to capture this special time for this sweet couple. Michelle had booked a maternity session when she booked her newborn session and I was super anxious to meet them. Unfortunately, our weather this spring has been completely awful and we had to reschedule three times before we were actually able to shoot because of rain. It as absolutely worth the wait! We headed down near my studio in Downtown Newburgh and just walked. We stopped by House of White Bridal Boutique, The Refinery and by one of my favorite boutiques, Flutter. The stop by House of White was super special because that is the place that Michelle purchased her wedding gown years ago. I am so excited to see them again here in a couple weeks when they welcome their new addition and I am so happy that they now have these photos to show their child in the future!!

Take a peek inside their maternity session in Downtown Newburgh!