For months I had planned every single image that I wanted to capture of my newborn when she arrived. I wanted them all–the posed, the candid moments between my 3 other children and her, and the sweet still images of her in her daddy’s arms. I’m a planner–that’s what I do. But what I do not do well, is improvise and think “outside of the box”. I was not prepared for my absolute inability to capture any images of my newborn daughter. I was not prepared for the multiple breakdowns I would have because I couldn’t take all of those images I had been planning for. Looking back now, I realize how crazy I was for trying to take my own newborns photos. I do not even specialize in newborn photography but even if I had, I still don’t think the outcome would have been any different. All the planning in the world did not prepare me for how shaky my hands would be from the lack of sleep and the painful tendonitis in both wrists (a lovely side effect of late pregnancy and overusing my wrist when lifting my body up) or how hysterical I would become when I had spent an hour setting up, all to be worn out after 10 minutes of shooting. My poor sweet beautiful baby cried every time I put her down and I cried, and cried, and cried until my husband would pull the plug and tell me to call it a day.
I am still trying to get all those moments captured off my checklist but I am also trying to be okay when things do not go according to plan, which you would think is something I am used to with four kids!
