Other than that first night home from the hospital with my daughter (an experience that was challenging at best and forever burned into my memory) the first few weeks of parenthood are a blur. I remember nagging my husband about pictures. "Pictures!" I said, "We have to get pictures of the baby while she’s still a newborn!" He assured me we would find a place and get hers done as soon as possible and naturally, I was suspicious. Later that day the mail came and I, still in recovery from a caesarean section and woozy from painkillers, sat on the couch and ordered my husband to go get it.
Along with the typical junk mail was a slick looking packet from a local photographer. While my brand new baby napped, I opened and looked through all of the marketing materials and sample photographs. "Now this is something really different," I remember saying to my husband. "Look how great these pictures are!" And they were. They were stylish and glossy without the tacky backgrounds found at most photography chains or portrait studios at the local mall. The photographer offered what he called "The Baby Plan" where I would sign my newborn up for a series of "incredibly fun" photography sessions charting her milestones at three months, six months, nine months and her first birthday.
I called and made an appointment for her three month session. Though she was not even a month old at the time, I knew I had to act quickly. The closing of the letter explained that they only accepted so many new babies a month and naturally that added to my new obsession to get in this studio. I was told when I made the appointment that I needed to practice with my baby before I brought her in for her milestone shots to make sure she was developed enough to strike the pose. So, though I suppose I should’ve been working with her on these things anyway, I now had a deadline every three months to make sure my baby was "on track."
My husband went with me to her first session. The photographer was wonderful, even allowing me to take breaks during the hour session to breastfeed or help my daughter regroup. I thought my Penelope handled it well, but I think mostly she just didn’t know what was going on which worked to everyone’s benefit. Lots of great shots were taken and luckily all of my coaching on her milestone for three months worked. She was able to lie on her tummy and lift her head long enough to get many pictures to choose from that session. I left thrilled with the place and anxious to go back and pick out which poses we would order.
About a week later I went back to see the photography proofs. They truly were incredible, too. And the ambience was just right. When I arrived the assistant lowered the lights, put on some soft lullaby music and showed me a slideshow of my precious daughter. Always a cynic, I didn’t shed a tear (I was assured by the assistant that almost all moms cry when they see the pictures for the first time), but felt my chest tightening a little once I realized how expensive the packages were. I made a modest (for that studio, anyway) purchase that afternoon and repeated this mantra on the way home: "She’s only this little once. You’ll be so glad you spent the money. You can put off the cable bill for a couple of weeks."
