Newborn Baby Photographer | Hemel Hempstead | Oliver
/Some babies arrive smoothly and others with a bump. Some arrive late, and some, like Oliver, arrive very early.
Every now and then I receive an enquiry for a newborn shoot and I know straight away that I have to photograph that baby.
When Oliver's mum emailed me she told me that Oliver was born at 29 weeks weighing just 2lb. He spent his first few weeks in the NICU at Luton & Dunstable hospital but at 7 weeks was finally home.
She had put word out into her local community that she was looking for a newborn photographer and her neighbour, who I had photographed a few months earlier, recommended me for the job. I'm so glad she did!
Thank you so much to Oliver's mum for these images of Oliver at Luton & Dunstable Hospital. She had nothing but positive things to say about the team there.
When I first got to meet Oliver he was a healthy 6lbs. At 9 weeks, he is the oldest 'newborn' i've photographed but taking his adjusted age into account - he shouldn't even have been born yet!
He was a noisy little thing, cooing and grunting his way through the entire photo shoot but he didn't cry once. It became apparent very early on that he was not having any of the tummy and side posing so we kept things nice and natural on his back, switching out wraps and backdrops to get his mum lots of variety.
Oliver's mum bought so many beautiful and meaningful objects to the photo shoot that I knew this would be one to remember.
To start things off I wrapped Oliver up nice and snug and he gave me a little smile as he drifted off to sleep.
These baby grows were the smallest I have ever seen, and they weren't even his first ones.
These little octopus are given to premature babies by Octopus for a Preemie UK to stop them pulling out their wires.
“We are a fast growing group of men and (mostly) women who come together to crochet and knit soothing octopus and jellyfish for premature babies.
Our little facebook group has grown very quickly in the last few months, and we have gone from supplying 1 hospital to now supplying over 15, and the number increases as each day goes by.
We have an admin team who represents all part of the UK, and coordinators spread all over the country to help delivering the small creatures to the units.”
If you'd like to donate your crocheting skills then please visit their Facebook page and see how you can help
Now it's time for a big shout out to the charity Emily's Star.
Emily's Star is a charity which provides boxes to local neonatal units, including items for both mum and premature or underweight babies. These boxes are called "Emily's gift"
“My little man. Born at 29 weeks at L&D. He received one of the beautiful Emily’s star boxes. It was a gift that shone a light to help us through our darkest nights. xx”
One of the things included in the box was a pair of six-inch knitted squares, which are used for when neonatal babies and their mums are separated. The mum keeps one on her and then swaps it over when she visits her baby.
Smell is the first sense a baby develops and it is thought that a baby’s ability to smell their mummy is how they learn to recognise her.
If you have time or money to spare, there are many ways you can help Emily's Star. You can donate money, buy something off of their Amazon list or help them with your time at events.
As well as amazing gifts from charities, we also included sentimental objects
from Oliver's family.
Oliver's nan was in the middle of knitting a cardigan when she sadly passed away.
A lovely family friend carefully unstitched the cardigan and used the wool to make him this gorgeous blanket. That truly is something to treasure.
His mum knew it wasn't going to be an easy pregnancy so when she found out she was expecting, she bought him a good luck elephant from The Little White Company. I'm so happy I got to photograph them together.
This image was Oliver's dad's favourite and it got chosen as one of their 4 Metal Prints to go on the wall.
To finish off the shoot I switched to a gorgeous grey furry blanket. Oliver was still so content just snoozing on his back and I got to use these little blue trousers, which I haven't used in forever!
I can't let a newborn photo shoot go by without capturing those little details!
Oliver's family decided to purchase an album, as well as 4 large Metal Prints to go on their wall.
They chose their favourite 20 - 30 images and then I designed an album for them. They then made as many changes that they liked until they were completely happy with the result.
Getting to know the families that I photograph is a complete privilege and one of the best parts of the job (that and the newborn cuddles of course!)
I am so happy that Oliver is here, healthy and growing by the day and thankful for the staff at Luton & Dunstable Hospital and the volunteers at both Octopus for a Preemie and Emily's star for all their support for his family.
