Photos to Get Of Your New Baby

on April 16, 2015
in All Posts

I was deleting pictures off my camera’s memory stick when I stumbled upon a whole block of pictures from Claire’s birth that I had never looked at.  I don’t know how that happened!  But it was fun (and, um, painful) to relieve that awesome moment all over again.  And it inspired this post…

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Of course, all labors are different – Claire’s was so fast that I didn’t get a chance to take some of these.  Some hospitals have different policies.  Some labors are emergency medical situations, and a camera may be the last thing on your mind.  Even though I have two kids, I can only really speak to one type of birth experience.  So I’d love it if other mommas could add to the list!  What photos do you love from your c-section?  What photos do you adore from your home birth?  If your baby was in the NICU, were there other types of photos that were important to you?

 

One Last “Just Me” or “Just the Two of Us” or “Just the Three of Us” Photo

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If you must, use the timer on your camera and prop it up on a table or something.  Just be sure to photograph you, your partner, and/or your existing kids before the new baby comes out.  Don’t worry if you look like a mess and half of the people in the picture have PJs in – what matters is documenting that moment!

 

One “Yay! I’m in labor!” Picture and another “Holy shit, I’m in mother freaking labor!” Picture

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My first labor progressed at a more normal speed, so I had a lot of downtime at the beginning to pose for pretty pictures – and even a few “OMG, I am really working here!” pictures.  My second labor was so fast that I don’t have any mid-labor pictures!

 

The Meet-the-Baby Picture

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When the baby is about to be born, have your partner/birth coach hand a camera to one of the nurses in the room… NOT the one delivering the baby, obviously!  But in my births, there were a few ‘extra’ people in the room who were more than happy to snap a picture.  Getting a “first look” picture is so priceless. 

 

A Cleaned-Up On-The-Chest Picture

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Take one where you both look pulled together, too!  Even if it takes a few days to look pulled together…

 

A First Bath Picture

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Because it’s so sweet!  I don’t have one of Henry’s and I regret it.  Also try to get one of the kiddo on the scale so you have a photo of their weight.

 

The Neck Selfie

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Take a selfie of your child on your chest – it’s really cool to look back on the pictures and see how little they were.

 

One of Dad Holding the Baby

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Okay, get more than one – everyone will be photographing MOM and BABY, so make sure to snap some solo ones of the Dad and his child, too.

 

Kids Meeting Each Other

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Enough said – you’ll LOVE these pictures! 

 

The Car Seat Picture

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When the nurse walks you to the front door, ask if she’ll take a picture of you with the baby in the car seat before you drive away – such a big moment.  <3 <3 <3

 

Other Picture Ideas…

 

Picture of your partner coaching you through labor

Picture of you with your doctor, midwife, or favorite nurse

Photos of the baby meeting other family members, like grandparents

Photo of the baby’s ID bracelets

Picture of the baby’s tiny hands and feet in comparison to yours or an older sibling

Picture of baby looking around with big, wide eyes

Picture of baby fast asleep

Picture of you breastfeeding or giving a bottle for the first time

Picture of baby all swaddled up

Picture of the clock at time of birth

Picture of the birth certificate form filled out

Picture of baby holding your finger (so sweet!)

Pictures of the room you stay in

Picture of the baby in his or her going home outfit

 

I was just talking to a pregnant friend about how you look 6 months pregnant when you leave the hospital.  Oddly enough, I loooove having a picture of my empty bump, too.  It reminds me how incredible the human body is.  I snapped this right before we left the hospital with Claire – can’t believe there was a human in there just two days before!

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What new baby pictures do you love?

{ 14 comments }

 

  • Nicole April 16, 2015, 9:21 am

    I love pretty much all the photos from both my babies’ births, lol, but my favorites are probably the first ones taken after the baby was born. Like, the ones that aren’t all put-together. Haha. I can close my eyes and relive seeing my babies for the first time but seeing the photos is special too! Second favorite would be the ones of my husband and the girls and my daughter meeting her new sister. <3

  • Ashley April 16, 2015, 9:40 am

    I had a very different labor and delivery – emergency c-section at 32 weeks with twins who ended up in the NICU for a month. We were not allowed cameras in the delivery room so no pictures of the actual delivery/surgery. I had one right before being wheeled into surgery with a big thumbs up. Pics of my husband with each individual baby in the NICU. And then my absolute favorite was our first family of 4 picture (which happened when the twins were 10 days old because prior to that they were unable to be moved around to NICU to accommodate it). And, finally, a picture of me in the backseat with them being brought home from the hospital.
    Definitely not the labor/delivery I’d hoped for (though I was high risk so I knew it was a possibility), but we made the most of it and I still cherish many of the pictures!

  • Ashley April 16, 2015, 9:43 am

    Oh – one more for Preemie parents….
    A picture of baby holding parent’s finger. It’s good to do the wedding ring finger, if possible, just so people can recognize size of how incredibly tiny the sweet preemie baby is in comparison to the person’s ring!

  • Catherine April 16, 2015, 10:12 am

    I just had my first baby 4 weeks ago today, but I wish I had my first baby after this post because I would have had more of a clue as to what to get documented in photos! 🙂 It wasn’t until I was pushing that I thought, “How freaking cool is it that a human being is coming out of me!!!” and I asked my doula to snap some photos. (Who knew my modesty would completely fly out the window during labor! I’m usually a very modest person!) But my most favorite picture is of my baby boy lying on my chest just 3 minutes after he was born and he was already smiling! So cute! And to this day he smiles aaaaalll the time!

  • Lauren April 16, 2015, 10:16 am

    32 weeks pregnant with my first and I am going to tell my husband to photograph EVERYTHING once the baby is here. I wouldn’t have thought to ask a nurse to take a photo but good idea as we don’t intend to have any other family in the room for a few hours.
    Our hospital doesn’t allow photos and video once you’re pushing and during the birthing class they told us dads were bumping into the sterile tools and stuff which seems like a really odd reason for the policy, haha. My husband is a videographer too so he’s used to having one eye in the camera and not bumping into things but I think by that stage I won’t want any photos anyway. 🙂

  • Coco April 16, 2015, 10:41 am

    My baby album from 1988 features some pretty cool shots — my older brother holding me for the first time, a photo of the clock, a pic of my parents toasting with champagne, and the most adorable photo of me staring my dad in the eyes while he holds me. I hope to get some similar shots someday with my own (future) kids!

  • Erin @ Her Heartland Soul April 16, 2015, 1:49 pm

    What great photos! I’ll definitely be taking all of these some day!

  • Ali April 16, 2015, 3:02 pm

    I know I’ve appreciated seeing pictures of my parents’ life right before I was born. So take a picture of your house, your car, the view out your hospital window, etc. I know I find it fun to look back at pictures of the 1975 car my parents brought me home in, and pictures of what my childhood house looked like before the kids arrived. Stuff like that.

  • Susan April 16, 2015, 8:53 pm

    My babe was born early and spent two months in the NICU. We just took as many pictures as we could when we were allowed to hold her and be with her. We got one picture of me holding her after birth but it was after she was cleaned up because she needed medical attention first. I would say it’s also important to get pictures of the actual birth. Mine was captured and it’s amazing to me to see the process our bodies go through. If you are in the NICU make sure you still capture first bath and as many daily pictures as you can. We have thousands from that time period and treasure them. We really got all important newborn pictures, just some, like taking her home, we when she was older.

  • Emily April 16, 2015, 11:54 pm

    I love the one of mom with the baby on her chest. 🙂 Thanks for this post. If I get married and have babies, I’ll have a list of photos not to miss.

  • Dottie (@crazyfitmommy) April 17, 2015, 1:53 am

    I’m terrible about this — with both of my deliveries I have dozens of pictures of the baby, the baby with my husband, and the baby with it’s siblings….but none of me with the baby (that include my face anyway). I was so self conscious about how puffy and fat I looked that I pretty much didn’t take a single picture of myself from the time I got pregnant the first time…and I’m still pretty camera shy.

  • Rebecca April 17, 2015, 8:29 pm

    We have plenty of NICU pics, as that was me. We mostly have in-hospital pics, not post-labor, probably because my mom was drugged for C-sections and my dad was too worried about her to worry about a camera. We have plenty of me with stuffed animals, me in the isolette unit, etc. Mom and Dad could really only come see me on weekends, and I’m sure they were more focused on my health and time with me than photo ops. But we have some good ones that I really like, particularly the ones that include my stuffed yellow elephant, who hangs out on a shelf in my room now. 🙂
    We have some good ones of my sister, too, like the ones of me meeting her. Those are cute. But I don’t think labor and OR pics were as big in the 90s as they are now, with media and culture and everything being the the way it is now. Or maybe it was just my parents, lol. But we’re so much more into photos and sharing than we were even 5-10 years ago, you know?

  • Allison April 18, 2015, 4:49 pm

    THE C-section picture to get is when the doc holds the baby up for the first time. Usually the cord is still attached, and the baby is all gutsy (which, for some weird reason I love), and they have this “what is happening?” look on their face. I didn’t get it with my first (she was under duress and they whisked her out quick), so I made sure to make a point of it with my doc this time, and they happily obliged. I also love the one with my very first glimpse of the baby. A nurse in the OR took it for us (my hubs was holding the baby), and it’s another one I cherish.

  • Shannon April 21, 2015, 1:31 pm

    My daughter never went to the NICU, but we had a team of NICU doctors in the room when she was born and she was actually not breathing for a little bit there. It all happened really quickly, but since I was stuck in the bed delivering the placenta/etc. it felt like an eternity. My sister (who was there for the whole labor and delivery) snapped a picture of my baby in the bassinet being worked on and craning her neck to see the face that went with her dad’s recognizable voice! I love that that moment is captured.

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