There’s a story I’d like to share today – Mother’s Day – but I thought it might be even better to hear firsthand from this beautiful mama. Meet Cortney.
I got a portrait session inquiry from Cortney last May. Here’s what her message said:
| Occasion | |
| I’d like to celebrate my beautiful family | |
| Tell us more! What are you excited about? | |
| Hello! (Gonna get a bit personal for a min) My husband and I have struggled with our journey to start our family for the last year and feel like we could use something to celebrate us! Celebrate our love and celebrate this journey which ever way it takes us! I am hoping to use these pictures as an important reminder! | |
Cortney + her sweet husband TJ haven together for about 8 years, and married for the last 3. But most recently, they were going through something really hard…
“We knew we wanted to start a family almost instantly after getting married. We also knew that we needed to take time to focus on ourselves and our health to make having a family possible. We began trying while working on our health immediately. After losing a combined 275 pounds and no success in getting pregnant, we reached out to medical professionals in May 2019. We worked with our doctors for about 6 months and began medication treatment to get hormones better lined up.”
They booked a session to celebrate their journey as it was today, their family of 2. They love each other so deeply, and even though their dreams of a family hadn’t yet become reality, they knew they were blessed with each other, and that was worthy of celebration.
“In June 2020, we were referred for more infertility testing for both myself and my husband. Over the next couple of months we consulted with Boston IVF. We had our treatment appointments scheduled for September 2020. During the waiting period we continued to have blood work every couple weeks to monitor.
In August 2020, during the midst of trying to figure out what steps would be next for us, we got the call from our OBGYN, that I had ovulated naturally, however my progesterone was not at an ideal level to support a pregnancy. (I was just thrilled that my body have ovulated on its own). A few short days later we found out the miraculous news that we were pregnant, with a miracle. We were pregnant on our own. (Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it).”
Cortney + TJ were so excited that they booked a pregnancy announcement session to share the news. We planned the shoot at Wachusett Mountain so they should shout it from the mountaintops.
Then their winter maternity session on the other side of the mountain.
“We booked our first session June 2020. We were not in a great place as we were faced with infertility, but also knew that we knew that at the end of all of this, the heart ache would be a part of our story and a part of our journey which should be celebrated and documented so we could hopefully look back one day and say we were stronger because of this. We decided to book a session for us… a session to remember this season of life… a season that we felt like we just wanted to get through.
In the same note it was also a time that brought TJ and I closer together which should be celebrated.”
Welcome Cole, the one they’ve wished for and dreamed of for so long. He arrived at the end of April, happy and healthy. Their sweet baby boy.
“After just finishing our fourth session in the last year, we can look back on that first session and think… we are exactly where we are supposed to be. We were exactly where we were supposed to be in June 2020. This is our story and this is all apart of our journey, which should be celebrated even through the hardest of times.
We feel grateful. Grateful that we captured all parts of our story, the good, the hard, and now the miracle ♥️“
If you’re struggling with fertility, don’t live it alone. There are so many women with similar stories and struggles. Strength grows in sharing stories and circulating love.
♥️
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