When Baby M was 10 days old, we had her newborn photos taken.
It was not a pleasant experience, to say the least.
First off, I dont think our photographer (who came highly recommended) had very much experience with newborns. She didnt have a lot of ideas for poses or props. Thank goodness for Pinterest; I came prepared.
Secondly, she suggested taking the baby's diaper off for some naked shots about 15 minutes into the two hour shoot. So I took off M's diaper. While Im waiting for the photographer to arrange the props, M pees ALL over me.
Ugh.
Thank goodness I was wearing black, right?
Sure, and so she peed on me again. All within the space of five minutes.
Cue the incredible fussiness, the inconsolable crying. She was seriously hating having her picture taken.
So I decided to try and feed her, which usually calms her. I take her into the bathroom, sit on the toilet (because the photographer did not offer a more comfortable option, rude), and proceed to feed her.
Aannnddddd............
She poops.... explosively.....all.over.me.
Of course.
So she's screaming and Im getting all teary eyed because we havent taken our family photos yet and for f*ck's sake, we'd only been there for maybe 30 minutes and it was already a cluster. Thank God my mom and J were with me to help clean us up and calm me down. I was ready to cancel the whole thing.
After lamenting that my shirt was ruined and we wouldnt be able to have our family photos taken, the photographer offered one of her black shirts. It wasnt perfect, but it worked.
M was fussy for the entire rest of the shoot and most of the photos with her eyes closed are in between screams.
I now know better for future children and future photo shoots.
*Schedule the shoot in the morning or late afternoon, not at noon, when the baby is most likely going to be fussy.
*Save the diaperless shots for last, for goodness sakes.
*Bring extra clothes. For everyone.
*Bring extra wipes. We ran out.
*Wait until the baby is 3 weeks old. They may be "less flexible", but will probably be better behaved. (M was much calmer at three weeks than 10 days.)
Despite the shit storm that was this photo shoot, we still managed to get some absolutely adorable shots. Here are some of my favorites:
And my favorite:
Happy Monday!
