Each April the International Cesarean Awareness Network sponsors Cesarean Awareness Month. According to their website, ICAN is "a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve maternal-child health by reducing preventable cesareans through education, supporting cesarean recovery, and advocating for vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC)."

As a birth photographer and a rockstar c-section mama myself, I know that cesarean births are just as beautiful and powerful and miraculous as any other birth. I also know that c-section moms have a unique struggle in the early postpartum weeks as they try to recover from major abdominal surgery while also adjusting to life with a newborn baby.

I was very fortunate to have a smooth c-section recovery after Bug's birth, and I attribute some of that to a few pieces of great advice from other mothers who had endured this surgery before me. I have compiled the top 3 recovery tips I found most helpful, and whether your c-section is scheduled or unplanned, I hope you find them useful as well.

1. Schedule Your Pain Meds
I am the queen of not taking medicine. I generally hate taking medicine of any kind but especially pain relievers. However, I learned very quickly after my c-section that all of my friends who told me to stay ahead of the pain knew what they were talking about. I still vividly remember one night when Bug was about 5 days old. I woke up in the middle of the night to feed and change her and realized it was time for another dose of my pain relievers. I had left my pill bottle in the kitchen and was feeling okay at the moment, so I decided to go back to sleep instead and take my dose later. It was only a few short hours later that I woke up screaming for my husband to bring me the medicine.
After an informal poll of my fellow c-section mom friends, the general consensus is to set an alarm and take your pain medication on a schedule for at least the first week. After that, you can slowly start stretching out some of the doses and start weaning yourself away from the meds. In my case, it took a full six weeks after Bug's birth before I was able to go a full day without any medication at all.

2. Embrace The Granny Panties
I know. I know. You are a young, amazing, sexy new mama. Granny panties are not your thing. Well, guess what? They're going to be your new best friend. Make sure they're soft and the waist band comes well above your incision site (you don't want to risk them rolling down onto your incision). For the first several days post c-section, I wore the mesh panties you get from the hospital. However, it eventually becomes unreasonable to wear those, but your incision will be tender for quite a while. I honestly can't tell you how long it was before I felt comfortable wearing panties with a lower cut waistband, but it was months. Honestly, even 5 years later, I sometimes find certain types of elastics irritating on my scar after wearing them for a long time. The good news is that high-waisted bikinis are totally in fashion right now, so at least bathing suit season will be one less thing you have to worry about!

3. Give Yourself Grace
Honestly, this one piece of advice could be applied to ALL new moms, but it's particularly important for c-section moms. You are recovering from MAJOR. ABDOMINAL. SURGERY.

You might see Jane NaturalBirth down the street taking her six-day-old baby out for a short walk, but you still can't even stand up straight and need help getting out of bed. That's okay though because...

MAJOR. ABDOMINAL. SURGERY. 

It's so important to remember what your body has been through and not try to push yourself to do what you "think" you should be able to do at any point. So you actually have to take people up on those offers to help or clean or cook? That's great! After Bug was born, we had so many friends and family members bring us food that I swear I did not touch my kitchen for a solid month. That meant even more time for me to rest and recuperate and snuggle my perfect new baby girl. My mom usually helped out by cleaning up a little when she came over, and I had friends and cousins who folded loads of laundry while I sat nursing the baby.  I give you full permission to pull the "I had major abdominal surgery" card whenever needed - diaper changes, dishes, anything. Honestly, I think we c-section moms should be able to use that card for the full first year - but maybe that's just me.

Now I know you may be struggling with a wide variety of feelings about having a c-section - I know I did - and that's okay! You are allowed to feel however you feel about your birth. I just want to remind you that no matter what happened in the events leading up to your cesarean, you are an amazing mom! You literally laid yourself out on an OR table and allowed yourself to be cut open for the sake of your baby. There's a special kind of beauty and strength in that.

I hope these tips are as helpful in your recovery as they were in mine! If you're a veteran cesarean mama too, share your best recovery tips in the comments!

Here's to the moms on the day before Easter. 

Here's to the moms hustling to finish those last minute holiday surprises.

Here's to the moms who are just now dyeing Easter eggs because this week has been crazy and you kind of forgot until today.

Here's to the moms who are putting the final touches on Easter outfits that will probably only be worn for a couple of hours tomorrow.

Here's to the moms who are trying to teach their kids the real story of Easter so it doesn't drown in a sea of colorful plastic eggs.

Here's to the moms who will be stuffing eggs and filling baskets after the kids are in bed.

Here's to the moms who will probably get very little, if any, of the credit for the fun and memories of tomorrow - but you won't really care because the joy on those little faces will be payment enough.

I'm raising my glass to you from here in front of my sewing machine while eggs boil in the kitchen to be dyed later today. Here's to us.

Happy Easter!

See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.

Are you located in the Lowcountry and currently expecting?

Is your due date in either May or June 2018?

Are you interested in having the birth of your new baby artfully photographed to capture the story of this very important day?

If you answered yes to the questions above, I have an amazing, limited-time offer for you! I am in the process of creating some new promotional material, and I'm looking for 2 or 3 Charleston-area moms who would be willing to sign a model release in exchange for a 50% discount on ANY of my birth photography packages.

It does not matter what type of delivery you are planning: hospital birth, planned csection, home birth, birth center, etc. I think birth is beautiful in all of its forms, and want to represent all moms in my work.

I will not offer a discount like this again in the future, so now is your chance! Keep in mind, I'm only choosing a limited number of moms, so contact me now to make sure you don't miss out on this opportunity!

To apply, click here to go to my Contact form. Please enter your name, email, due date, and where you plan to deliver. I will then email you more information about my packages and planning your consultation.

If you have any questions, you can also email me at [email protected]

It's confession time: I barely touched my camera outside of client sessions this week. I took a couple of iPhone shots of things my kids were doing, but the Life in 52 challenge was far from my mind most of the time. Not only have I been busy editing client sessions, I also found out this week that I'm going to be having surgery after Easter. 

Something about the mom of the household having surgery and being out of commission for a little while seems to create a cloud of impending doom. I have an incredibly capable husband who is also a phenomenal dad and we have plenty of family and friends around who are going to help. It's just that there's so much every day minutiae that we moms handle unnoticed by others - can I get an amen?

I've been a flurry of domestic chaos trying to make sure everyone has plenty of clean laundry and planning one big grocery shopping trip to stock up on everyone's favorite snacks for a few weeks. Of course, I've also got to finish making my kids' Easter outfits and preparing their baskets.

Anyway, on Friday, all of my social media newsfeeds were bombarded with photos of everyone's adorable puppies. It seems it was "National Puppy Day." I'm not sure who made that holiday up, but as I glanced over at my snoozing dog, I thought, "Maybe it's time to feature a photo of something other than my children." 

So meet Ellie Mae. We adopted her from the Charleston Animal Society in 2011, a little over 6 months after we got married. She's a mutt - most likely a mix of pit bull and some kind of terrier. She has a boisterous, scary-sounding bark, but I can assure you that she is the sweetest and most skittish dog you will ever meet. She had endless energy as a puppy, but now she mostly likes to lay around on this big stuffed giraffe pillow, dozing the day away.

See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.

Spring is just around the corner and for photographers of every kind, that means the business is picking up. I'm so excited for all of the newborns, babies, and families I'll be photographing in the coming months, and I'm sure you're all looking forward to reading about something other than my adventures with my kids! However, I must admit, I do enjoy the slower season that winter brings. I've enjoyed this time of turning my camera towards the beautiful, everyday moments in my own home.

This last week of calm has been so precious to me. I ended up submitting 3 different photos to the Life in 52 lifestyle photography challenge this week. 

First, my husband decided to take Bug out for a special daddy-daughter dinner for some one on one time. She was SO EXCITED. She asked me to help her pick out the perfect dress and to style her hair in a bun. My heart could have exploded with love that day. 

Later in the week, Bug wanted some arts and crafts time. She received a kit for Christmas to create and decorate stepping stones. She's been begging to make one and we finally had everything we needed to get it done this week. After it dried and we took it out of the mold, Bug got started painting the stone. When Bubba saw her, he came to me with his little, chubby toddler hands out saying, "Mommy, me paint too!"

I poured a few colors of washable paint onto a paper plate and gave him a small paint brush and a piece of paper. The house was blissfully peaceful for a solid half an hour while they created their masterpieces.

I'll admit we don't paint around here often. It's so cumbersome to cover the table and pull out all the supplies and, of course, clean up afterwards. However, every time we do something creative and messy, it brings such happiness and calm that I end up thinking to myself, "We really should do this more often."

Maybe my goal this spring will be to find the time to make more messes.

​See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.

I love photos. I mean I know that sounds obvious because I'm a photographer, but I really do! I've hired photographers for many occasions - both big and small - in the past because it's a service that I value.

We've been in our new house for 6 months now, and I'm still struggling to decide what to hang on my living room walls. I have this one big blank wall that would be perfect for a gallery wall. The problem is I'm going through years of photos trying to decide which ones to display.

As I was sifting through photos, I came across a few from a breastfeeding session I had done when Bug was a little chubby baby. They are photos I cherish.

I had to wean Bug almost as soon as she turned 2 years old. She was only nursing once at night before bed by that point, but it was still bittersweet. My husband and I were ready for another baby, but in order to be treated by the fertility specialist and begin medications necessary for me to conceive, I had to stop breastfeeding. I ended that sweet part of my relationship with my precious girl so that we could add another little love to our family.

As I sat fondly looking through these photos, I realized I don't have any nursing photos with Bubba! I have one photo in the hospital from his first latch, but that's it. I really wanted to take a moment to document this time with him too.

He turned two in January, and he really only nurses maybe 3 times a day now. People who say that moms who nurse toddlers are only doing it for themselves have clearly never nursed a toddler. My son likes to point out and name my facial features while he nurses:

Mommy eyes.

Mommy nose.

Mommy cheeks.

Mommy teeth.

Let me tell you... little toddler fingers getting shoved in my eyes and nose are not exactly my idea of a good time. 

There are days when I'm so over nursing him, and I just want to be done. There are days that he only wants me, but I'm so touched out, I could scream. 

However... I love being the calm in his crazy. I honestly don't know how much longer we'll go on nursing. There's a chance he's my last baby, so I'm not going to rush him. I will sit and snuggle and nurse... and I will count it all joy.

See more of my photos from the Life in 52 photography challenge here.

Being a birth photographer means I get to celebrate birthdays a lot. It's obvious that each new life that enters this world will have a major impact on the family he or she is born into; however, we don't often stop to think about the ripple effect this baby will have on the future. The person he will grow up to be; the career she will one day choose; the friendships and relationships formed.

Today, we're throwing it back to a birth that happened four and a half years before I was even born, but it changed the trajectory of my life forever. This week we celebrated my husband's birthday. When we got married, I started the tradition of baking a cake for him on his birthday every year. Some years, he requested a specific type of cake (German chocolate cake). Other years, I found a recipe I thought he would love (cookies and cream cheesecake). 

When my daughter was two years old, she started joining the fun. She has been helping me pick the cake and icing colors ever since. 

This year we made a chocolate chip cookie cake with blue icing and heart sprinkles.

In this week's Life in 52 photo, Bug is explaining that she chose heart sprinkles because "hearts mean love" and she loves him so much!

See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.

It's hard to believe that only weeks ago I was posting my first Life in 52 post about our record snow fall here in Charleston. Although it's technically still winter, we had beautiful sunny days with temperatures in the upper 70s all week. 

It. Has. Been. Glorious.

You'll often hear people complaining about the heat and humidity here in Charleston, SC. I've been known to grumble and complain on occasion myself (mostly during the 2 summers when I was pregnant), but I wouldn't trade it to live anywhere else.

I've only experienced real snow that actually stuck to the ground 3 or 4 times in my life. Because it's such a rare occurrence, it's always so exciting and fun.... for about 2 days. After that, I'm OVER IT. Maybe if I lived somewhere where snow was more common, I wouldn't feel that way because we'd be better equipped to handle the snow. However, I just don't enjoy the cold weather. My already dry skin becomes downright painful, and all I want to do is stay inside and eat all the unhealthy comfort food I can find.

I guess it's a good thing the cold weather usually only lasts a short time around here. We usually have beach appropriate weather from February until November - and there's no such thing as too many beach days.

I took my kids to the beach for the first time in 2018 this week. It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision. We checked the forecast - 0% chance of rain. Perfect. I loaded the kids and our beach cart in my minivan and headed to Isle of Palms. When we arrived, it was raining. So much for that 0%.

Little pop-up rain storms are very common, so I knew to just wait it out. I had packed plenty of snacks for the kids, so I kept them satiated with food for about 10 or 15 minutes until the rain passed. After that, the sun was back and the weather was PERFECT. 

The water was still a little too chilly to play in, but that didn't stop Bug. She repeatedly ran back and forth to the water filling buckets for the moat around her sand castle. Bubba excitedly ran towards the water once, but as soon as that cold water touched his toes, he cried and ran the other way. He was much happier sitting in the sand, digging holes, and burying his toys. 

I didn't bring my "big girl camera" to the beach that day. I just wanted to enjoy the sand and the sun with my babies without always looking for that perfect shot. However, you can't NOT document the first beach day of the year! This week's lifestyle photography challenge photo is actually just an iPhone photo. Not my most professional or artistic work, but a photo I treasure just the same.

See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.

I had imagined photos of my little valentines making crafts for week 7 of the Life in 52 lifestyle photography challenge. I could already see their sweet faces celebrating the day of love. However, this week has been heavy - weighed down by sadness and worry.

A heartbreaking death in my husband's family.

A little girl close to my daughter's age was abducted after her mother was brutally beaten not all that far from where we live. Miraculously, she was found safe, but we all know those stories don't often end that way. Plus, the fear and trauma that family will struggle with for years to come is unimaginable. 

Another school shooting not long after I registered my sweet girl for school next year.

My mama heart is weary. I'm anxious and unsure how to navigate this future where my babies will move farther and farther out into this frightening world and away from my bubble of protection. Do I prepare her for the darkness that exists in our fallen world? How do I do that without tarnishing her kind, tender spirit of which this world so desperately needs more? How do I find that balance?

I know I'm not the only mother lost in these worries. I can't decide if it's comforting or frustrating that no one else seems to know the answer to these questions either.

So I tiptoe in to watch her sleep, and find her resting peacefully with her hands clasped as if in prayer. My cup runneth over and for just a moment, my heart is at peace. 

See more from the Life in 52 challenge here.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you know we sold our house last summer and built a new one. We love our new house, but there's been one part that I haven't enjoyed.

Construction.

It's a relatively new neighborhood, and they started building on the lot next door pretty much as soon as we moved in. It's been 5 whole months of large trucks blocking our driveway, loud tools, and music blaring all day. Our new neighbors are set to move in very soon, and I can't WAIT.

My son, however, sees things a little differently than I do. He is OBSESSED with trucks and tractors and machinery. We even worked that love into his 2 year photos. When one of these large vehicles comes to work at the house next door, Bubba runs all over the house to find the window with the best view. Once he finds it, he will sit there - just watching - while they work. Every once in a while, someone will notice him watching and honk and wave. It's pretty much the highlight of his little toddler life.

This week, a cement truck came to pour the driveway next door and parked right in front of our house. I figured it was most likely the last time he would get to watch this, so I let him sit on top of the train table in the playroom and watch as long as he wanted.