In August, we had our maternity photo session with Page Harper Photography and I am beyond obsessed with how they turned out. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted and Page made it a reality with the setting and the way she so perfectly captured our joyful emotions through the camera lens. A long sleeve sequined gown at 34 weeks pregnant standing in a field may have seemed a little overkill, but it perfectly executed the the glam yet ethereal look I had been envisioning for months. Which, speaking of glam, my friend Kenzie did my hair and makeup for this shoot and killed it (find her on Instagram here). I was SUPER swollen the day of the shoot (face, hands, feet, all of it) and Kenzie made me feel beautiful on a day I was convinced I couldn’t. She’s a licensed aesthetician and hair and makeup artist (who works with several celebs in Nashville btw… she’s way cool), but on that day she felt like my own personal, fairy godmother.
During the session, it was so fun to not only focus on my little one, but also to take some photos with Luke and enjoy time with him. He takes all my outfit/blog pictures (such a superb “Instagram husband” ha), so it was really nice to have him in photos with me this time. Throughout my pregnancy, not only did Luke and I become closer in our marriage, we can both attest that we each grew in our individual relationship with the Lord. As much as a blessing as Bodie has already been in his 3 weeks of life, a growing love for Christ and each other were two of the many ways he was already such a blessing before he was even born.
Something that Luke and I did daily throughout my pregnancy was to pray for Bodie together each night before bed. Today, along with sharing some of my favorite images from the shoot (PS: it was super hard to narrow them down and not post them all), I thought I would also share a bit on praying for baby throughout pregnancy as this was a key part of the past nine months of my life. I would encourage every expecting mama to pray specifics over your little one as you prepare for his or her arrival. It truly brought me so much peace and comfort in time when there was always information overload and always some unknowns as well.
Prayer is powerful and prayer works. I firmly believe in the power of prayer and bringing all of our praises and our requests to God. There have been so many instances in my life where I can look back and see how the Lord answered my prayers— both in the big and small things. Pregnancy is a time where there is a lot of uncertainty, especially as a first time mama-to-be. I would find myself wondering in my head… “Is this feeling or pain normal?”, “Will all of baby’s organs develop correctly?”, “Is labor going to be scary?”, “What if there are complications?”, etc. Being able to communicate with a Heavenly Father that I trust in and who knows ALL was more than reassuring to me. Although I’m still human and can’t help but wonder about things, surrendering my questions and fears to the Lord during the process was freeing and made my pregnancy so enjoyable. I knew that no matter what the scenario was for our little one, God was in control and has a plan for his little, life.1 John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us.” How amazing that God hears our prayers when we come to Him. Even if He has a different answer than we may anticipate, knowing we can bring our praises and burdens to Him and that He hears us is so comforting.
I purchased this book mid-way through my pregnancy and loved that it had different prayers for each week of the journey. I flipped back to the early weeks (that I missed when I didn’t have the book yet) and it had prayers for specific body parts of baby (i.e. brain development, heart development, lung development, baby’s eyes, baby’s fingers and toes, etc.). Of course you don’t have to be in a specific week of pregnancy to pray for these things, but it was really cool to see it divided up to where you would pray for a part of baby that was in crucial development at that point in time. The majority of my nerves kicked in towards the end of pregnancy. I was tired, swollen, and didn’t know what labor was going to be like… and that freaked me out. I found this prayer from week 38 in my book especially comforting:
“Dear Lord, I pray for my baby this week. I pray that You will turn my baby’s head down in the direction You want him to be. If for some reason the baby shouldn’t turn, such as if the cord is wrapped around his neck, then I pray that You take care of this situation, too.
God, You are Almighty and know everything that is going on with my body and my baby. You know the exact minute my baby will be born. Please help me to be patient and get through this time of waiting. I am so anxious to see and hold my baby that I can barely wait another day. Please be close to me and my baby and surround me with Your love and presence at the birth. Help the labor go smoothly and the birth to go just right.
I know that in Nehemiah it says that Your gracious hand is upon me. I know You will bless this delivery, Lord. I know that my labor will be manageable and You will be with me the whole time. Please take away any fear that I may have, and help this baby to come quickly and safely.
You are a great and powerful God. I know that if I praise You, You will rain down Your blessings from above. I believe that You are the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. This is a new beginning for my baby, for our family. We praise You for this wonderful gift. Thank you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
No matter if you’re a first time mom, second time mom, eighth time mom, husband, dad, grandparent, aunt, sibling, or friend, praying over a new, developing life is powerful and beautiful. My hope is that this post blesses and encourages you to pray over and for the ones you love, even if they aren’t born yet.
These images will always be such a lovely reminder of love. Love for Christ, love for my husband, and love for the precious little boy that I’m now staring at as I’m writing this post. Thanks so much for stopping by… I know this was a long one. Happy Weekend, friends. xoxo.