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.

love you all. this is my last post before my maternity leave! the next post will most likely be our birth story!