Pregnancy is one of those unique life experiences that when you’re living in it, it can feel like it will last forever.
Your body changes every day, and sleeping gets more and more difficult. Getting dressed can feel like a huge, overwhelming task. You spend those last few days waiting, wondering, and preparing. You try to guess what the little person who’s been kicking you from the inside will be like.
Then suddenly, it’s over and your sweet baby is here.
Your bump is gone, and there’s a soft little baby curled up in your arms. The days quickly become a blur of feeding, learning their cries, and trying to remember when you slept for more than a few hours at a time.
As a mom of five myself, I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking that you’ll remember it. I know how quickly all those little details start to fade.
Bump to baby photos give you the chance to document both sides of this life changing experience, and it’s why I love to recommend doing them. You get to remember yourself within a glowing pregnancy, and then again as a new mom when the baby finally arrives.
If you’re new here, welcome: I’m Emily, the photographer behind Emmy Jo Photography. I photograph maternity sessions along the beaches of coastal North Carolina and newborn sessions in my Hampstead studio. My goal is to make the whole experience feel soft, natural, and easy, especially when life can already feel like a lot. Take a peek for yourself on my Instagram for beautiful maternity and newborn sessions.
If you’re expecting and want to document both seasons, my Maternity + Newborn Bundle was created specifically for the full journey from bump to baby.
Why Your Bump to Baby Journey Is Worth Documenting
Pregnancy and having a newborn connect two completely different seasons of life. Both of those seasons are uniquely beautiful, and both deserve to be documented in their own way.
Pregnancy brings with it a natural anticipation. You spend the last few weeks wondering who the baby will look like, you watch your belly continue to grow, and live in the wonder of feeling those amazing little kicks.
When your baby finally arrives, all the answers are there in front of you, just snuggled up in your arms instead of inside of you. You could spend all day studying their perfect little face, figuring out who they look most like, and feel those soft little feet that spent hours kicking you.
Bump to baby photos preserve that special transition. Instead of remembering one part of the experience, you get to see the story unfold in your photos in front of you.
Maternity sessions can include the whole family, and documenting this version of your family becomes so important too. Your maternity gallery can hold the way your family looked right before another person joined it.
Wondering if maternity photos are still worth it when this isn’t your first baby? Every pregnancy brings a different story, a different version of you, and a family that looks a little different, too. Read why every pregnancy deserves to be documented, whether it’s your first baby or your fifth.
What Makes Bump to Baby Photos So Meaningful?
There’s a lot happening emotionally between a maternity session and a newborn session.
During your maternity photos, your baby is still completely yours in this quiet, private way.
You have the honor of carrying them everywhere and wondering who they’ll become. You get to prepare for them in the special ways that feel like you.
At your newborn session, you’re holding that same baby in your arms.
The round belly becomes the tiny baby tucked safely against you. The older child hugging your belly becomes a proud new big brother or sister reaching for their new sibling. The two of you who stood together on the beach waiting are now parents to this brand-new little person.
Your maternity photos tell one part of the story. Your newborn photos tell the next, creating a beautiful continuous family story. Booking bump to baby photos simply makes sure you have both.
Capturing the Beauty of Pregnancy Before Everything Changes
Maternity photos can feel intimidating. You may not feel like yourself, and your body has probably changed in ways that you never expected. If you’re camera shy or have looked at other maternity photos and never imagined you could look like that, it can make the experience feel even more overwhelming.
Throughout your session, I will gently guide and prompt you into the most flattering and beautiful poses. I capture all of the beauty of your pregnancy that you may have felt you lost along the way.
Around sunset on the beach, I will meet you at an agreed upon location that I have previously scouted. My maternity clients have access to my wardrobe of bump friendly gowns. You will have a fitting pre session to make sure you feel your absolute best.
Your family is always welcome to be included, but I always make space for just you, the incredible woman growing the baby. I capture your strength and softness, the version of you who exists right now, who will never be quite the same way again.
Whether you’re looking for a Hampstead NC maternity photographer or spending this season near Camp Lejeune, the beach gives us such a beautiful piece of coastal North Carolina to weave into your story.
If choosing clothes already feels like one decision too many, you can also grab my free What to Wear Guide for a little extra help.
Feeling nervous about maternity photos? You’re not the only one. If you’re worried about posing or not knowing what to expect, in this blog I walk you through exactly what happens during a session and why you don’t need to know about posing.
Why the Newborn Days Go By Faster Than You Think
Just when you think you can’t imagine another day being pregnant, your baby arrives.
Those first few days bring their own kind of blur.
At first, you’re in love with everything about this new little person. The captivating newborn smell that you wish would never go away, the soft wrinkles in their skin. The tiniest fingers you’ve ever seen, and that special way that your baby magically fits against your chest.
As much as we convince ourselves that we will never forget how it feels, living on broken sleep can make it slip away that much faster. Babies can change so quickly.
I intentionally keep the newborn half of my bump to baby photos experience slow, simple, and relaxed. No in home photography is offered, because I’ve created my studio experience in Hampstead with new parents and babies in mind.
I know personally how overwhelming it can be to even think about organizing yourself and your family for newborn photos. In my studio, I control the lighting and temperature to be comfortable. I have curated wraps, outfits, and props. I have experience with newborn posing and safety throughout the entire session. Time for snuggles, feeding, diaper changes, and breathing room are all planned into the session.
You don’t need to clean your house or figure out where we’ll get the best light.
You simply come to me, and I take care of the photography while you soak in the snuggles.
In the chaotic days of a newborn baby, I’ve intentionally created this experience for families. Not as a backup location, but as a part of your newborn days that you will remember as peaceful and calming.
Telling Your Family’s Story Through Both Maternity and Newborn Photos
Bump to baby photos might have a different feel to them, but the seasons of life and the sessions blend together so well.
Maternity sessions on the beach are full of movement: wind blowing through your dress, fresh ocean air, and stunning golden evening light.
Newborn sessions are quieter, softer, and full of close snuggles in the studio with your new baby.
These seasons of motherhood are very different, but when put together they tell a fuller story.
For many military families around Camp Lejeune, this can feel especially meaningful. Military life can mean deployments, moves, new duty stations, and seasons where your family changes in more ways than one.
The photographs you create here can go with you.
Years from now, coastal North Carolina might be home. It might be the place where one beautiful chapter of your family’s life happened. Either way, your bump to baby photos preserve what your family looked and felt like during it.
Creating an Heirloom Your Child Will Treasure Someday
Heirloom products are part of the experience that I offer to my families because I strongly believe that your photographs deserve to live somewhere other than your phone.
My Maternity + Newborn Bundle includes a 10×10 heirloom-quality album along with the digital images from both sessions. I also offer custom-designed albums, matted prints, keepsake boxes, wall art, and glass keepsakes.
When children are older and express an interest in seeing their baby photos, it’s so special to be able to sit and open an album with them. They’ll be able to see you carrying them, and the way their dad looked at you while you were waiting for them.
They’ll see how gently their siblings held them for the first time, and wonder at how on earth they were ever so tiny that they could fit against your chest like that.
These bump to baby photos become a part of your child’s story too. They get to see how loved they were before you ever saw their face.
From heirloom albums to matted prints and ready-to-hang wall art, I make it easy to turn your images into something tangible for your home. If you’re wondering why I believe so strongly in printing your photos, you can learn more here about why prints matter and explore the heirloom products I offer here.
Why So Many Families Choose to Document the Entire Journey with Bump to Baby Photos
While figuring out the time to partake in two separate photography sessions while also preparing for a baby might sound like adding more work to your list, I’ve designed the maternity and newborn bundle to do the exact opposite.
You book the journey together, and I guide you through both sessions. Your experience includes:
- A maternity dress fitting and wardrobe help
- Prep guides so you know exactly what to expect
- A one-hour maternity beach session with your family
- A newborn session in my Hampstead studio
- All digital downloads from both sessions, with a minimum of 50 images from each
- A 10×10 heirloom album to bring the whole story together
The bundle currently costs $2,290, with the option to split it into four payments of $572.50. It also currently saves $900 compared with booking the included sessions and images separately. You can always peek at my pricing page for current pricing and all the details.
More than anything, though, booking bump to baby photos means you don’t have to reach the newborn haze and suddenly remember that you still need to find a photographer.
We’ve already planned it.
You can focus on meeting your baby.
Your Bump to Baby Story Is Already Happening
Professional photos can sometimes bring on fears of not looking photogenic enough, or not having well behaved kids.
I always strive to capture the beauty and chaos of my families exactly as they are, in this season of their lives. You don’t need to have everything figured out when your baby arrives. You don’t need to wait until the timing seems right.
Your family is exactly what it needs to be right now. All you need to do is show up, let me guide you through the photo sessions, and capture this season of life for you.
Bump to baby photos let you keep two incredibly short seasons of motherhood together: the waiting and the meeting; the bump you grew and the baby you finally got to hold.
If you’re expecting in Hampstead, Wilmington, Jacksonville, near Camp Lejeune, or elsewhere along coastal North Carolina, I’d love to help you document your journey with bump to baby photos.
Reach out to check availability for your maternity and newborn sessions. Explore my Maternity + Newborn Bundle to have the whole experience planned before your baby arrives.
One day, you won’t have to rely on memory alone. You’ll be able to open your album and see just how much love was there from the very beginning.
