‘The months and weeks you spend lovingly awaiting the arrival of a pretty new baby are beyond compare. You hold your little darling within you like a secret - close to your heart and ever on your mind. It’s why having the time documented is so special; the excitement, the anticipation, the raw and unapologetic adoration is written all over you; the tenderness is tangible.’

In this piece, Geelong and Melbourne maternity and newborn photographer Michelle McKay shares the beauty and importance of having both your pregnancy and your first days with your newborn documented. She introduces and discusses the baby to bump collection, which includes both of these remarkable story sessions.

‘When it came to making a record of your pregnancy, you found yourself hoping for something a little more understated, a little more relaxed, a little more authentic. Something that went a little closer to catching a little of what life is like for you right now, in these quiet days and weeks of anticipation before your already adored darling arrives, and shakes everything up. You may not quite know exactly what you’re exactly envisioning. You just know you’d like something that’s a little more... you.’

In this piece, Geelong photographer Michelle McKay speaks about the importance of maternity photography and announces a gift for pregnant mamas in Geelong.

'In the name of documenting a significant and life changing piece of your family's story, let’s catch those memories as soon as possible! : ) Whether this is your first or final babe (or perhaps one in between!), those first few days of bring home baby will be exciting, formative and incomparable, as well as amongst the most fleeting of eras in your long life.'

In this piece, Geelong photographer Michelle McKay explains the importance and beauty of catching the memories of the first week home with a new baby.

'As in life, birth is an unpredictable business - you’re not always dealt what you were expecting, that for which you may have planned. Yet when this mama learned she was best to birth in hospital and forego her delivery at The Geelong Birth House, she breathed through it. '

In this piece, Geelong Photographer Michelle McKay shares the courageous and endlessly beautiful birth of a sweet baby girl.

'Nothing before or after compares to those first few hours after bringing a baby into the world.'

In this piece, Geelong Photographer Michelle McKay talks about the beauty and importance of having that first 48 hours with a new baby documented. 

'In just weeks, this family will be welcoming two new babies into their family, transforming their tight little unit of four into their very own tiny tribe. There are such exciting days ahead. There is so much love and fierce adoration coming. But welcoming all that newness means letting go of something, too.'

In this post, Geelong lifestyle photographer Michelle McKay shares the feelings and emotions of the days before a new baby arrives in a family. She demonstrates the way Geelong family photography can been utilised to capture this special time, preserving it forever.