Brianna Lynn Photography
Moms of Miracles Giving Hope series
Have you ever had one of those moments where you just felt like you were part of something bigger than yourself? Something that mattered, not only to you, but to so many others around you and perhaps even people you have not met yet? This past Sunday (8/1/21),
I had the honor of being part of something just like that at the first annual
BLP Moms of Miracles Giving Hope photo shoot.
Let me begin by stating that every baby born is a true miracle. How can something so incredible grow inside of us moms and enter the world as this perfect being? It's a love like no other - impossible to put into words. For some, the journey to their baby is an easy, straight-forward journey. For others, like myself, that journey is filled with twists and turns and challenges to overcome. The journey of infertility is not one that anyone could predict and it is not something that you can prepare yourself for. My husband and I decided to start having children after a few years of marriage and thought that it would be a few months of trying and then *poof* 9 months later we'd have a baby. How wrong we were. The day we were going to put a down payment on our first house, we also had our first infertility appointment. We were given a 1% chance to have children naturally, or on our own, due to both a female and male factor. We were told IVF was our only option, bypassing less invasive options of conceiving. It was a very quiet ride home. We decided to focus on growing our family and put our house-buying on hold. My journey to my two Rainbow Babies was years of infertility, 3 miscarriages that are now angels watching over us, 5 rounds of IVF with frozen embryo transfers that resulted in my two Rainbow Babies born three years apart.
I was always very open about our infertility journey and all that came with it, which is not typical to my personality. However, I realized early on that if I was feeling this way on this journey, there were other women feeling the same. Maybe they just weren't comfortable talking about it. Maybe they did not know just how, unfortunately, common infertility and miscarriages are. 1 in 8 women have trouble getting pregnant and 1 in 4 pregnancies result in pregnancy loss.
Each Mom was given a balloon to symbolize each miscarriage that she had prior to her Rainbow Baby. Moms did not know that this was going to be part of the shoot today and while explaining what these balloons symbolized, it was hard for me not to tear up thinking of each of those Angels and my own 3.
At the same time, each balloon was let go and sent above. Although I am not one who believes specifically in a higher power, I have to believe that each of my Angels and each of these Angels are out there somewhere and that they helped bring their Rainbow Baby sibling earth-side. It was an emotional moment for all.
The event was originally scheduled for July 17th. True to our journeys though, there was a storm of all storms the day of the event. High winds, sideways rain, lightning like I've never seen, and tornado warnings. I had to appreciate the irony! It was hard to get all thirty moms available on the same day, but the moms that could rallied! Text messages were flying in as they all helped to give their upcoming availability for the shoot to be rescheduled. Within 24 hours, we had a new date. I was amazed by these women before even meeting them face-to-face! August 1st came and we were blessed with beautiful blue skies. One mom joked that all we needed was a literal rainbow to completely symbolize our "Rainbow after a storm"!
Each mom and her Rainbow(s) were present for this special group photo, but they also each had time to celebrate their miracles alone for a Mommy and Me session. Moms continued to share their stories with me at this time, opening up more about the heartache of infertility and then the joy that came from their journeys. It was my absolute honor to capture the memories from today and to stand beside these incredible, beautiful moms and their perfect, silly, and beautiful Rainbows.
Each Mom has bravely chosen to share her story in detail. No one story is alike.
Click on the buttons below to read more about their journey of infertility and pregnancy loss.
If you are going through this journey, we hope that these stories give you HOPE and we wish you a beautiful rainbow at the end of your storm.
You are not alone. You are strong.
Together, let's break the silence about infertility and miscarriages so no one else has to feel they are going through this journey alone.
Although my husband and I grew even closer from this experience, I still often felt alone, broken even. I was a woman ready to have a child. Isn't that what my body is supposed to do? I wish that I knew from the beginning that I was not alone. It would not have taken away any of the pain from my losses, but it would have brought me hope earlier on than I found it. This is where the Moms of Miracles Giving Hope photo shoot was born. I reached out to find other moms who had different infertility journeys and/or moms who had suffered pregnancy loss. The response was overwhelming. Over thirty moms reached out and shared their stories with me. Let me tell you, Mamas: YOU ARE STRONG.
