Voicing anxieties during the COVID-19 pandemic

I know the feeling.

The quiet between pregnancy and first time motherhood, the uncertainty and excitement. Sorting through onesies and sitting cross-legged on the bed, imagining a soft, sleepy baby cradled in your arms. You hum a song, the same one you’ve sung over and over in the shower as the water taps against your stretching belly. Baby kicks you in the rib, a swift reminder that your harmonies are being acknowledged.

Or maybe it’s chaos you feel, apologizing to your growing belly several times a day as a toddler clings to your leg asking for more cinnamon on their peanut butter toast, but just half the toast, can you cut off the crusts, let’s draw. It’s 7am and you’re already so tired. You feel sorry for not having said good morning to your soon-to-be-baby, there’s just so much going on.

I know the overwhelming feeling of the unknown, and I know that these days that feeling must be magnified. But you have to know it’s okay to feel this way, and you’re most definitely not alone.

We’ve had dozens of clients reschedule their shoots, many of whom were anticipating a babymoon and a photoshoot on the beach. Sunrise, soft skies, warm ocean washing over their freshly painted toes. I’m sorry. I really am. We’ll be here to capture your family’s portraits, and what a story you’ll have to tell.

If you’re expecting a baby in the months ahead, whether it be your first or second or fourth, tell us how you’re feeling. Do you have a newborn, are you feeling housebound? Overwhelmed? Excited to have time to be in complete quiet with your new baby? What does the current climate mean for your birth experience? Maybe if you share your story below, it will help another mother or mom-to-be feel not so alone. Let’s share what’s on our minds, what is weighing down our hearts, what’s lifting our spirits, in hopes it will resonate with someone else, and together, we won’t feel so alone making our way in to motherhood in these uncertain times.