There is little in life more intimidating than taking home your newborn human for the first time.  By yourself.

  …They’re seriously going to trust us with her?  

… Don’t we need to be more qualified?

… I can’t believe they require a test to get a driver’s license, but not for this.

I remember thinking these exact thoughts fourteen years ago!  And now, as a newborn photographer meeting brand new parents every week, I can still see this uncertainty and overwhelm ALL. THE. TIME.  

But one thing many new parents don’t know is that there are resources  in nearly EVERY community whose sole purpose is to ensure babies and children have the very best start in life.  And much of their work involves helping not just babies, but their PARENTS.  And the best thing about these resources?  Most of them are FREE!  My own experience as a new mother, as well as my previous experience working at a non-profit for children & families, made me familiar with many of these services. And you don’t necessarily need to be in a certain income bracket to qualify- you simply have to ASK!

So, based on my own experiences, and those of people I know, I’ve made this list of 4 Invaluable Resources for parents of newborns- most of which you may never had heard of!

LACTATION CONSULTANTS

You may be surprised to know that most hospitals have a full-time lactation consultant on their staff.  Yup.  Full-time!  Why?  Because breastfeeding is not always easy, y’all.  For some people it is- which is wonderful!  But for others (myself included) it’s really, really hard. 

That’s not to scare new moms off from breastfeeding. On the contrary! (I struggled and struggled but after several weeks of working with a LC finally had success!)  I just think it’s important to know that experiencing difficulty doesn’t mean you can’t do it, it just means you’ve gotta work through some issues before it becomes second nature.  It could be issues with baby’s latch, your milk supply, sore or cracked nipples, engorgement, mastitis… the lovely list of potential mammary problems goes on!  😛 

Well, lactation consultants help you through ALL those issues, concerns, and struggles you face so you can eventually breastfeed successfully. So, if you’re having trouble breastfeeding- ANY trouble at all- reach out to your hospital’s lactation consultant- their job is to help!

POST-PARTUM DOULAS

We hired a doula for our son’s birth.  If you’re unfamiliar with doulas, I could describe one all-to-simply as: A labor and childbirth coach. 

A more fitting definition, however, might be: An angel and cheerleader sent from God to help you successfully birth a small human out of a very small opening in your body. Possibly without painkillers.   

Now Postpartum Doulas are a similarly angelic figures who assist parents in the often difficult and overwhelming postpartum period. (Yes! Someone to help you when you have no idea what you’re doing!) And to give a more thorough description of all a postpartum doula does, I googled it for you! 

Postpartum doulas provide families information and support on infant feeding, emotional and physical recovery from childbirth, infant soothing, and coping skills for new parents.  

Though many new parents have the blessing of their own parents to help them through this period, not everyone does- this is where a postpartum doula would truly be invaluable. 

Unfortunately, postpartum doulas are not a service that is provided free to families- they are typically hired privately by families.  However, they are just an incredible service to new parents, so I HAD to include them in this list!  

Postpartum doulas seem like such a God-send, I kinda want to hire one now.  Do you think 10 years postpartum is too long??

PARENTS AS TEACHERS

One of my favorite organizations to benefit families is Parents As Teachers– for a few reasons.  One: my mom was a Parent Educator with PAT for many years. Her job was to guide parents in the first three years of their baby’s life and help them to become their baby’s first (and most important) teacher).

In the short term: this benefited parents and helped them with challenges from nutrition and cognitive and motor development to behavior and discipline.  In the long term: it greatly improved the success of children in school!

PAT was one of the first things I signed up for when our daughter was born!  Now admittedly, having a mom who was a parent educator, and having worked as an early education consultant, much of what my own Parent Educator shared with me I already knew. But it didn’t matter. The support of my PE Brenda- actually visiting my home and talking with me- was a lifesaver at times. Not only did she support me and answer ALL of my questions, she connected me with resources that directly benefited our daughter.  

One of the most resources we received through PAT impacted our daughter’s life in a huge way.  When Lauren was nearing 2 years old, I’d been wondering if she was talking as much as she “should” be talking, and so our PE evaluated her speech- a routine check done by PEs for every child. When a simple questionnaire suggested that her speech appeared to be delayed, our PE was also able to perform a hearing evaluation right in our home!  Thankfully, her hearing was normal, though her expressive speech was not. To my surprise, we received a call the NEXT DAY from the Army Medical Center where she was born, to set up speech therapy for her. I didn’t even have to do anything! (A blessing for an already tired mother).

Long story short, she began receiving free early-intervention speech therapy services right away, and her speech shortly thereafter exploded, and she is (at the time this post was originally written) a 4th grader reading and writing at an 8th grade level. (!) Does her success in school have anything to do with the intervention she received from PAT?  YES! Absolutely, yes.

And if you’re thinking that you might not qualify for FREE services, think again. Most states have funding streams that are specifically geared toward young children (birth through three) and early intervention services are usually a part of that.  Even though my husband had a good salary with the DoD, we still would have struggled to afford private speech therapy on our own. But we didn’t even have to worry about it. It was all covered with early intervention services! It was truly a blessing. 

YOUR LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT

This last resource might seem like an odd one to include, but from my experience, they’re probably not utilized enough!

Before Lauren was born, I had already pored over dozens of books- trying to glean as much knowledge as I could about keeping a tiny human alive. Now, we knew the basics, of course. But I am, by nature, a worrier. So I even read the manuals to our baby gear- making sure that I didn’t miss anything important. 

So, when we did our duty as soon-to-be parents and took our car (with carseat installed) to our local fire department to have it inspected to ensure we properly installed it, we were sure they’d tell us, “Boy, you folks must have read all those books, because you nailed it!  No one ever comes here with their car seat properly installed. Well, you’ve broken that streak today: Congratulations!” 

Well, guess what? 

Even with my thorough preparedness and slight obsession with details, we still found out that we did NOT have our daughter’s car seat installed properly. 

😳 

And seriously, we were SURE we did!!!  In case you’re one of those parents (like us) who totally knew you did it right, let me describe our mistake: 

We knew the middle of the back seat was safest.  We knew all car seats must be rear-facing and properly leveled so that baby’s head doesn’t slump forward and increase risk of injury during a crash.  We also knew that the LATCH system in the car was easier to secure snugly than seatbelts. 

So we put the car seat- level and facing backward- in the back seat. We took the LATCH hooks, secured one to each anchor, and tightened as tight as humanly possibly.  

And yet the Firefighter who helped us quickly found our mistake:  Our back seat only had the LATCH system on the left and right rear seats- but not in the middle.  So, we’d actually used a LATCH anchor point from from the RIGHT SEAT to secure the right side of the base, and used the anchor from the LEFT SEAT to secure the left side. This meant the straps holding in her seat weren’t hooked perpendicularly to their anchor points- they were spread out further- allowing the seat to actually slide from side-to-side quite a bit!  A PROPER installation would have used the LATCH system on either the left or right seat, OR- his recommendation- using the seat belt to secure the seat in the middle.  

So, the moral of my story is: Firefighters undergo some insane number of hours of training JUST to be experts in car seat installation. It’s seriously that easy to do it wrong!!  So, use their expertise.  Again, it’s FREE!

And if you’re one of those who gets an A+ for perfect installation, Way to go!  If you’re shocked (like us) that even your seemingly perfect install wan’t completely safe, you’ll be SO thankful you had them inspect it. 

San Antonio Newborn Photography

I think one of the hardest things to decide when considering booking a newborn photography session is whether it’s actually worth the price. After all, professional photography isn’t always cheap. In fact, it’s rarely cheap! Any artist who is worth their weight will likely have prices that reflect the extensive education, training, expertise, and time and attention that they provide for each of their clients. And sometimes that number can be just enough to make you question whether what you receive is actually worth it.

There’s a saying I’ve heard that I think is nearly always true:

Cheap photography isn’t good, and good photography isn’t cheap.

It’s no secret that GOOD professional photography sessions are an investment. An investment meaning: they cost more than you’d typically spend on any given day, say, going grocery shopping, going out to eat, or filling up your gas tank.  But investments are not the same thing as spending.  Investments are something that cost you money NOW, but whose value only grows more and more over the years. Or something that you put “X” amount of dollars into now, only to be worth a thousand times that down the road.

Just the other day, we got a mailer for the monthly sales at our local big box/warehouse store.  And in it, they had a bunch of the newest, high-tech TVs “on sale” for $1200, $3000, $4500.  Even, (get this): $8999.  (Someone actually sells a nine thousand dollar television set. I didn’t even know TV prices went that high!)

But is that $9K TV an investment? In my opinion, no. Will that television set have more value to you in 5 years? 10 years? I doubt it. In fact, it’ll probably be obsolete. Ouch.  

Now, most of us aren’t dropping a couple thousand dollars on tv sets, so what’s my point? 

It’s simple. 

When it comes to deciding whether or not to invest in something that’s important to you now (but costs more than you’re used to spending on any given day, or more than your budget normally allows), ask yourself: Will this thing become even more important to me in 5 years? in 10 years?  What about 50 years?  Will its value to me become even greater as the years go on?

And I think you guessed it:  When it comes to portraits of our loved ones, the answer is always, Yes, yes, and YES. 

Now, I get it. I’m a professional portrait photographer, and I LOVE to make a living doing what I love. I want all the families in San Antonio to hire me to photograph their newborns!  

But yes, professional portrait sessions cost money. They’re an investment.  But the best investments only become more valuable and more precious over time. 

And portraits of your baby when they are brand new to this world do exactly that.

The newborn stage is so incredibly fleeting.  It might last only a few weeks, or a month.  Then your baby begins to change so quickly, that newborn-ness is only a memory. And I’m not just saying that as a newborn photographer. I’m saying that as a mom. Because I’ve experienced it.

But that’s where photographs come in.  

If you aren’t someone really cares about beautiful photos, or can’t see any difference between a picture taken on your phone and one created by a professional photographer, then no, a newborn portrait session probably is not worth it to you!  (And yes, I believe this is true for some people- And that’s ok!)

But if you often say things like, “Oh, I LOVE this photo of my son!” Or “That is the most beautiful picture of you….”

If you love and appreciate a beautiful photo, especially of the people you love…

If you want to remember everything about your newborn…

If you want to look at a beautiful piece of art showing that precious tiny face you adore…

Then YES. Newborn photography is definitely worth it.  And five years from now, ten years from now- the money spent at that time won’t be important to you. But those irreplaceable memories will.

Because I believe in what I do and how valuable it is in our lives, I make sure to make my sessions as attainable as possible. I encourage expectant parents to book their newborn’s session months in advance, and I offer complimentary payment plans for all of my sessions. You are welcome to break up your session fee into as many payments as you need to be able to work it into your family’s budget. For more information, or if you have any questions about using a payment plan to book a session, please reach out here!

Capturing Baby’s First Year

Did you know I offer a My First Year plan?  Yup. Like whiskers on kittens it’s one of my favorite things. 

It’s a bundle of several sessions aimed to capture baby’s first year of life- where they grow and change the most! Scheduling, planning, and styling each of these milestone sessions is all taken care of by ME (because although new parents WANT to beautiful portraits of their baby, they’re tiiiiiiirrrrred.) Parents with a baby just want to get through the day without nodding off at the dinner table. The last thing usually on their minds is scheduling important dates in advance. That’s why I plan it all for them! 😉⁠

What it includes:

My First Year includes 3 once-in-a-lifetime milestone sessions for your baby…  First, capturing them when they begin to start SMILING- usually around 3 months or so. Next, capturing them when they are SITTING up all by themselves! This can be anywhere from 6-9 months. And finally, celebrating the biggest milestone of all- their first birthday! 

The First Birthday is probably the most fun of all the sessions!  We start with classic 12 month portraits in the studio and then capture the joy and fun of a 1st birthday cakesmash, and a bubbly bath afterward.

Each and every session is custom styled for your baby, and their cakesmash also includes a custom smash cake by my favorite cake artist extraordinaire –  Shandi Tabler of TablerMade.

Yes, a custom cake is included!

Shandi’s cakes are handmade, hand decorated, SUPER yummy, and provide the most beautiful special touch for such a special milestone.

What to Expect…

I reach out to you to schedule each session when the time comes.  I also custom style each session for you and your little one!  I have several go-to outfits for babies to wear. Or,  I can coordinate the set-ups to match an outfit you’ve already chosen! 

At 12 months, my cake artist and I consult with you on your baby’s first birthday session, finalizing any special colors, props, or themes you would like.  You arrive with your little one year old to an adorably styled set and a beautiful custom cake waiting to be dug into! (Yes- I even pick up the cake for you. You’re welcome! 😉⁠

And after they’ve made an adorable mess of themselves, we pop them into a bubbly washtub for more sweet photos. I use hypoallergenic baby wash for bubbles and have clean, sanitized towels ready for when they’re done splashing. 

Seriously- EVERYTHING is taken care of. I LOVE being able to continue to photograph these sweet babies as they grow and I like knowing that I’m helping my families achieve something that they’ll never have the opportunity for again.

Not only does the My First Year plan include ALL the images from ALL the sessions (with nothing more to buy!) You also receive a keepsake box and a set of archival prints for the entire year’s photos.   

Seeing these newborns grow so much during their first year is SUCH a blessing and a wonderful job perk!  The My First Year plan is- I think- the best way to remember those once-in-a-lifetime moments when your baby is small.  Because, unfortunately, you only get these days once.   

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If you have a little one soon to arrive earthside, or a newborn who’s already starting to grow and change- don’t wait! Get in touch to capture baby’s first year!  See pricing details for the My First Year plan here.

Busting some myths about newborn photos…

You may have heard that newborn photos HAVE to be done while baby is 10 days old or younger.  Or possibly less than 2 weeks.  I’ve even heard of some photographers turning down clients whose babies were older than 2 weeks.  

Huh??  Did I miss something? Is there some kind of magic 2 week window?

For some reason lately, I’ve heard from multiple moms worried that they’ve missed their chance to have their newborn photographed because they’ve either heard on social media (or from other photographers) that “newborn photos” can ONLY be done in baby’s first two weeks of life.

I’m here to tell you that’s not true.  ⁠

In my opinion, babies can be photographed at any age!  

What’s up with the first 2 weeks?

There does seem to be a “sweet spot” for newborn photography. I.e. an age where babies seem to be the easiest to photograph in the newborn “style.”   I think the 2 week window probably came about because of this.

Younger babies (in their first or second week of life)  typically sleep more so they’re a bit easier to photograph in that curled-up newborn style.  For that matter, older babies may typically be more wide-awake and less… curly-uppy 😜 ⁠so they might take a bit longer to sleep or perhaps may not sleep at all. 

And those common (though unsightly) occurrences like hair loss or baby acne – which are tedious and time consuming for photographers to retouch- typically occur after 2-3 weeks or so.  

But since when are babies typical??  They are all so different!

Little Miss L here was 3 WEEKS OLD for her session.🫢😍⁠

And she slept like a DREAM! 

And Baby Z below was 6 weeks old during his session. Seriously!

Now, I don’t normally encourage parents to wait 6 weeks for newborn photos. But it just goes to show that if for some reason they had to, it’s really not a big deal. 😉⁠

For that matter, I’ve had 7 day old babies that fussed, startled every second, and barely slept at all. 😆 🤷‍♀️

So I think in a nutshell, younger babies are usually less work for the photographer, but EVERY baby is different, and EVERY baby can be photographed!   There’s nothing wrong with a photographer wanting to have consistent, efficient sessions with minimal editing, but I hate thinking that refusing babies after a certain age convinces SO many parents out there that their newborn is “too old” to photograph.  

What to expect…

Now, for the sake of managaing parents’ expectations, please know that the “newborn” style photos of curled up, sleeping babies are unlikely to happen with a baby that’s, say, 8 weeks old.  But that doesn’t mean that even an 8 week old can’t still be photographed!  Granted, they’ll look chunkier and older than a fresh newborn, but If you’ve had a rough start for your baby’s first couple months, that’s OKAY!  I’ve been there, too. 

With my firstborn, I struggled with breastfeeding and making enough milk… Long story short, it was 6 WEEKS (ugh) before I actually felt like we’d hit a groove.  But if now-photographer ME had been approached by new-mother ME of 13 years ago, I would have told her, “Of COURSE we can photograph your daughter!  She’s older, so I probably won’t capture her all curled up and sleepy, but I can absolutely make beautiful portraits of her!  I’ll probably get a lot of bright eyes and even some grins, and you’ll still have gorgeous portraits of your little girl.”

 I just listen to their cues and capture babies however they’re comfortable. Regardless of their “pose” or whether or not they are sleeping, I will still make beautiful portraits of your sweet babe! ⁠

So PLEASE don’t be discouraged, moms and dads. If life with a newborn has gotten away from you and you fear you’ve missed that window for professional portraits, I guarantee you: you haven’t.  ⁠

You just have to find the right photographer! 😉⁠

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PLEASE NOTE! Being able to photograph a baby at any age is not the same as having availibility on the schedule! It’s always best to reserve a spot for your newborn several months ahead of their arrival. I photograph only a small number of newborns every month, so booking early is best!