Hurray, Lauren had her maternity photography session in my studio!!!
Lauren is a wife and a mum of two gorgeous little girls: Gabriella Roslyn and Iyaleigh Suzanna and lives in Brisbane.
I have had the greatest pleasure to meet Lauren, while she was pregnant with Iyaleigh when I have done her maternity photos. The session was so hilarious with Gaby not being fun of the dress-up thing but enjoying her chocolate biscuits, what ended up in her white dress…lucky for me that I was able to remove the spots in photoshop.
There was a moment when Lauren was in this black sequins dress and while I was getting her shoot, her dress fell off her shoulder and that moment was the most incredible moment of her session. Her bear shoulder, her laughter and the round belly have created our most favourite image during her maternity session.
As you know I become friends with most of my clients and I have the joy of seeing Lauren and her family enjoying life, but this woman can sing ☺ and I didn’t know that, and sometimes going through the hard life challenges.
A few months ago her dad passed away, and I know in how much pain she was. Even though her dad was only 1000km, I can imagine that nothing can have prepared her for this news. I could see how close she was with her dad and more that because of the distance and his health problems he missed meeting his new granddaughter. Such a hard time to go through.
I have asked Lauren to respond on a few questions hoping that her answers will help any other mums. So have a read and see if you can relate on here answers and if not I am sure we all relate on one thing: the love for our children, the love for our parents, the love for our close one.
Now let’s hear some wise words from her:
1. Can you share a sweet story about you and your family?
We are a family of four, Mum, Dad and two little girls and we love them with all our hearts. Our 2 girls are 17 months apart and I love dressing them the same hehe.
We love going on adventures and spending time together as a family.
2. How did you settle on the name of your baby?
We are Game of Thrones fans and we fell in love with the character Arya Stark. In Irish her name is pronounced “eye-ah” and we loved that pronunciation so we spelt it “Iya” so people would say it right haha.
3. Did you plan your birth? If so were you opting for natural, medication, or C section? How did it go?
I opted for an epidural cos I am not one for pain. I had an epi with my first and loved it.
4. Project nursery… can you tell me about “the room”?
My girls share a room and we have decked it out in llamas cos they have Peruvian heritage so we thought we could bring a bit of Peru to Australia. Plus llamas are in fashion right now
5. What is your best advice for someone about to face childbirth?
Don’t ever let society or other people make you feel bad about anything you feel is right in your pregnancy and raising a child. You will judge yourself enough throughout this period in your life, don’t let everyone else contribute!!
6. What’s something you wish you knew before having your baby…no sugar coating, please?
I wish I knew exactly how tough it was going to be raising two under two. I knew it would be hard, just not this tricky and exhausting. Wouldn’t change it for the world though. I love my two little princesses!
7. What’s something you wish you knew or you didn’t know before giving birth?
How hard the cluster feeding is at the start. Cluster feeding = very little and very broken sleep.
8. Can you share a funny event that happened during your pregnancy?
The way my waters broke. I was popping popcorn getting ready to watch Married At First Sight and went to open the cupboard, bent down to get a bowl and “pop” I felt all this water gush down my leg. So I made sure I took my popcorn with me on the way to the hospital. No way I was gonna let it go to waste!!
9. Are you a fashion, freedom or no maternity style mama?
Freedom for sure. Comfort all the way
10. What are the names of your favourite kids’ clothing stores?
Ollie’s Place, Lacey Lane, Kmart.
11. Can you share a “hack” used in your day to day life as a mum?
I use the big ice cube trays from Kmart as a Bento box for my toddler. Such a fun way for them to eat and try different finger foods in all the different compartments.
12. What would you say if a new mum asked you for a breastfeeding/bottle feeding advice?
Just do what works for you. Don’t feel pressure to do anything that causes stress or unhappiness. If you can’t breastfeed or don’t like it, don’t feel bad about using formula
13. What’s your view on Instagram/Facebook babies?
I love it!! As long as you don’t show any personal info in your pics and your pics are not distasteful in any way then go for it!! Who doesn’t love looking at pics of cute little bubbas:).
14. Before your maternity photography session with me, had you ever had a professional photography session?
Yes, I had one with my first bub on the beach.
15. How did you feel during the session and what did you enjoy the most?
I enjoyed the atmosphere and vibe. Such a beautiful experience.
So this is Laurens maternity session and a little bit about her story.
I hope you have enjoyed her images as well as her story.
All my maternity sessions are held in my studio in Rochedale South, Brisbane or outdoors within a 30 minutes drive.
If you need more details about maternity session, newborn or family sessions please contact me here.
Or give me a call on 0405468587 and we can have a chat about your dream maternity photography session.