On the day you were born (Too little, too soon)…
I laid in denial, until about noon…
One the day you were born, I prayed & I cried…
For the baby I needed, to stay safely inside…
On the day you were born, four months before due…
Your heart rate kept dropping (Mine kept dropping too)…
On the day you were born, I wore a fake smile…
(Pretend to be happy, you’re meeting your child)…
I walked to your NICU, to my delayed joy…
Yes you were really little, but MY little boy…
You waved a small hand, calling for me to take it…
From that moment on, I knew you would make it…
I sat there for hours, committed to see…
Just a hint of a miracle, waiting for me…
We were in this together, on a journey to grow…
My brave little warrior, I love you, you know.
By Kaleena Berryman
Now there were lots of things trying to stand in our way for todays session but despite almost needing an ark to get here…this gorgeous boy made it and he was definitely worth the wait! I first met this sweet boy when he was born long before his time and was hanging out in the NICU. I’ll let Mumma share their story below and I’ll share some gorgeous pics along the way but I am so glad that we could make today happen for this very deserving family. He is a fighter by every sense of the word, he has overcome so much just to be here today, and despite being home with his Mumma & Papa finally, he still requires oxygen and is fed with the assistance of a tube. Thankfully we could still capture newborn photo’s for this little man even though he’s months old…every photo they have so far, whilst capturing his journey, are layered with medical equipment and tubes and wires. Today it was all about this sweet boy in all of his gorgeousness. The joys of bringing your precious bubba to me means I was able to take out his feeding tube then pop it back in at the end of the session, as well as get lots of stunning images with his oxygen safely near by.
“When I thought about becoming a mother for the first time, I certainly never envisioned our journey being as difficult or challenging as it turned out to be.
After trying for children for a while, my husband and I realised that we would have to try IVF to start our little family. I remember being so excited and hopeful about beginning our first round of IVF as it was moving one step closer to our dream of starting a family. The hope and excitement very quickly dwindled however with each unsuccessful round until finally I got a positive on a home pregnancy test after our 4th round. We were very cautious throughout the pregnancy and only started to get a little glimmer of excitement about being pregnant once we reached 22 weeks. We started to let all our family know about our wonderful news and finally went shopping for baby clothes and other nursery items for the first time.
And then at 24 weeks, my blood pressure went out of control. I was admitted to hospital with severe preeclampsia and was seen by numerous specialists to try and lower it. I was ready to try anything just to give our little boy a bit more time inside. At 26 weeks, my obstetrician made the call to deliver our little man and I remember the absolute fear and dread I felt of hearing those words. I was rushed to theatre for an emergency caesarean. Everything that day was an absolute blur, but I remember hearing our little boy let out an almighty cry as he was delivered, weighing just 890g.
I will never forget how my heart absolutely melted when I saw him for the first time. I will never forget how tiny and fragile he looked and how small his body was in my hands when I held Hom. My dear little boy faced so many challenges while in the NICU. It was such an emotional roller coaster and we seemed to take a few small steps forward and then some almighty leaps backwards at times. In total he spent 124 days were before we were able to tale our little miracle man home. He has been such a little fighter and I am in absolute awe at how much he has overcome. We still face many challenges, but I am so incredibly lucky to have this little man who has finally made me a Mumma bear!”
World…Meet Samuel…he’s new here.x.
When he arrived he was wide awake and happy to chat…and how could you be mad at this sweet face???
But then he dosed off and this was pretty much this chill nature the entire session….a little koala bear with his gorgeous koala toy he brought with him today.
How adorable are these little knitted rompers….he just snuggled up here like this…not sure it gets any cuter!
Mumma chose a stunning gallery with browns, creams, blues and this gorgeous sage green…love love love.
Who caught this sneak peak video earlier today? Mumma collects teddy bears so this set up was a must!
I just adore this sweet little bunny Samuel brought with him…and this colour looked perfect on his milky skin and little dust of ginger hair.
Look at those smoochie lips…
Ok I think this is my favourite from the session…we squeezed him into this knit romper…he’s come a long way from a teeny tiny 890 grams!
Look at this beautiful family…all that love just gets me in the feels. It fills my heart that after everything they have been through we could celebrate today with gorgeous photos.
Patricia & Jeremy…thank you for trusting me with your precious little man. He is divine and you should be super proud. It was so lovely to see you all today and create some special memories.
Sweet Samuel thank you for being such a darling…
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I feel like this is officially going to be a thing and those of you that know will know…but I kind of have a ‘work curse’…all of my colleagues that bring their sweet babes to the studio end up team no sleep lol…this little guy was a nosy parker and legit did not want to miss a thing…despite two sessions, lots of shushing, cuddling, rocking and all my tricks…plus lots of boobies…this little guy may have done a few blinks to get some shut eye shots lol. I’m kinda not mad though…look at those big dark intent eyes!
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