Recently, I had the chance to attend The Stratford Main Street Festival, one of my favorite kinds of days: full of energy, music, local love, and lots of smiling families. After the event, I shared a gallery of photos in a local Facebook group so folks could download their favorites. I figured if someone saw a sweet moment of their own family, they’d want to keep it. What I didn’t expect was what came next.
A woman named Samantha slid into my messages, not for herself, but for her dear friend Quaijzah. Cue the heart melt.
Samantha wanted to gift a photo session to her friend, who was about to give birth at Bridgeport Hospital. She told me that the hospital no longer offered Bella Baby photography, which is usually a Fresh 48-style session (if you’re new to the term, it just means capturing those first soft, sleepy hours after baby arrives—when everything is still new, squishy, and totally magical).
This is where I come in. 🥹
I had the honor of being invited into this sacred window of time, just days after Quaijzah welcomed her baby. A new chapter of her life, a whole new identity, and I got to help her freeze it in time.
Out of respect for her wishes, and because I completely get it (I didn’t share photos of my own kiddos online until they were both over one!), I won’t be showing baby’s face. But those tiny fingers? Yeah, I can’t keep those to myself.
To anyone else joining the parenting club soon, I’d love to help you hold onto those raw, honest, beautiful beginnings. And if you’re not expecting, but know someone who is?
