When clients book their sessions in advance, there’s no telling what adventures we will have in store for us. Luba had done her Banff Mountain Maternity Session with me back in early June2021.. You can see her incredible mountain maternity portraits here.
Well eventually this sweet babe made his grand arrival and Luba texted me to let me know. He was PERFECT! We booked her session for a few weeks out. Then she called me again to tell me she was upset that he had been put on oxygen, she had to call an ambulance one night, they spent a bit of time at SICK KIDS at the Alberta Children’s Hospital and she was exhausted to boot. On top of this whole ordeal. She was worried photos wouldn’t work out now that he had this little accessory and she was so upset. What a wild ride right off the bat for a first time mom!
I assured her that this wasn’t my first time working with a little one who had been put on oxygen and that we would figure it out. I kept the oxygen on him for most of the session, only removing it to snap a frame and then put it back on him. I even captured some images with the oxygen on. Mom was so upset about it, and I do not blame her at all, but I felt it was important to capture it nonetheless.
You see, when I had my first child, she had Hip Dysplasia and had to wear a Pavlik harness. I hated it. I felt traumatized by it, I felt like it was stealing moments from me and my first babe. I couldn’t hold her in a ‘normal’ way and I didn’t take very many photos of it because I didn’t think I’d ever want to remember it. Turns out I do want to remember it. That event was still a part of my first motherhood months and I look back on it now wishing I had more photos to think back, or show other new moms whose babies had to wear Pavlik harnesses that it’s okay, and they will get through it. So now, I tell clients that they don’t have to show anyone, they don’t have to look at those photos until they’re ready, but that one day they would want them and they should have them.
My first client that had a baby come to the studio with oxygen on felt the same way I had felt all those years ago, and the way Luba was feeling. I messaged her to ask if she ever cared about having those photos after I took them - her babe was actually about to turn one. She told me that she thought she’d never want them but she said she loved them now that he was off it, and she was happy I had captured them for her. Me too, friend. Me too.
In some of the images, you’ll see an Owlet Smart Sock on little Dude’s foot. We used this to monitor his oxygen levels in the moments where I removed the oxygen as it sends a notification to mom’s phone if his oxygen levels shifted at all. It worked out really well. What a sweet little one. I am writing this post months after his session and I am happy to share he is no longer on oxygen :)
