One of the most rewarding things I’ve gotten to do since beginning my photography business nearly 4 years ago has been taking my nephews and neice’s newborn portraits. There’s a lot of love behind each of their first pictures. With all the newborns I’ve been doing lately you can imagine how excited I’ve been about doing my newest nephew’s photos. However, I couldn’t have anticipated his arrival being so completely different than any of us had imagined.

My sister had planned her second home birth, but a few days before her due date she was sent for an urgent c-section when her son stopped moving in utero. Owen made his rather dramatic arrival and spent the next few hours fighting for his little life. Unbeknownst to us, he had been suffering from a rare alloimmune disorder. His home was the NICU for the first two weeks of his life. I knew the chance for capturing a baby’s “brand new stage” was such a small window, but at that point I was just so grateful that he was there and getting better. Still, I pounced on the opportunity to get some pictures done the day after he arrived home.  After enduring blood transfusions, tubes all over his little body, and all the other joys of hospital, he was a champ through his photo shoot.

I know I have “auntie goggles” on when I look at these, but I just don’t see how he could possibly be any cuter!

Finally, here are a couple of shots of the bird “mobile” that his talented mommy made for him…