Dress by Show Me Your Mumu
while I always knew I wanted to do a maternity shoot of Lu and I with the bump, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do the more intimate shoot, where the woman poses either naked, in undies, or in a barely-there-ethereal robe.
as the date approached, I didn’t have time to go shopping and look for something cute to wear for the latter shoot (the dainty, half-naked one), so I figured I wouldn’t do it. but after doing the photoshoot with Lu in the park (we went to Van Vorst Park in Jersey City, where we live), we came back, and I thought to myself, “these photos are just going to be for me anyway, what do I care what I’m wearing?”
sometimes, we get caught up too much in the social media moment – well, what are these photos going to look like on Instagram?! I decided I didn’t care and I’d just put them in an album to cherish forever, and I wouldn’t share them (only the ones of him and I ‘dressed up.’) I literally went into my clothes storage bins, found a ratty Forever21 sweater (I got it for $7 in a sale bin about 3 years ago), threw on some regular underwear and a white tank top I hadn’t washed in probably 2 weeks, that I wear to bed all the time.
I immediately felt like me, and posing in those photos felt natural. I wasn’t posing for anyone else but me and of course, Lu. I felt so comfortable not being dressed up a certain way and trying to feel like anyone else but me. it was a liberating feeling and I am SO happy, in the end, that I decided to do this more intimate shoot, and I decided to share a few of the photos with you, in hopes that inspires some of you mamas-to-be to not be afraid to capture your bare belly and body in a photoshoot. just wear what makes you feel comfortable – not what you think will look best on camera. in the end, you want to feel like yourself, in your own beautiful, pregnant skin.
I have SO many photos, here are my favorites – and I divided them up between the park and the bedroom. OH, and to be totally transparent – Lu did NOT want to do this, but in the end, as he was looking at the photos, he was just as happy as I was that we did it. he loves the photos and showed them to his mom, proudly. I’m always right, honey 😉
van vorst park
our bedroom
hope our shoot inspires some of you to do your own maternity photoshoots! to me, there’s nothing more feminine than a pregnant belly, so you should be proud – and show it off and capture the memory!
all photos by Erin Dwyer Photography.