Mama Mermaid Maternity Shoot

// SMUDGE - Mama Mermaid Maternity Shoot //

To be honest, I almost completely chickened out on doing a maternity shoot. I have always had a pretty distorted view of myself and my body image, I am one of those annoying people who regardless of how much I weigh, always thinks I look fat. So as much as I have tried to embrace the beauty that is pregnancy, from the get-go of being pregnant, I have felt uncomfortable with the way my body looks. The first trimester I just felt like I looked like I ate wayyyy too much pizza and was miserable that I didn't look pregnant in my clothes, just overweight. As I grew through the second trimester having a legit bump was exciting, but the huge ass and thighs that came with it were not fun. Now that I am approaching 30 weeks and in the third trimester I am just so ready to meet her and have my body belong to only me once again.

With all that being said, I was like, oh there is NO WAY I am getting in front of a camera to be photographed like this! But after the support of numerous amazing fellow prego friends I have made on Instagram encouraging me that I will truly regret not documenting this stage of my life professionally, I said what the hell, and took off all my clothes lol. But really, in my mind, if I was going to do this, I didn't want the traditional in a field with Derek awkwardly gazing at my belly vibe (no offense if you take this route, I have seen some insanely beautiful shots like this) but I wanted more of a mother nature meets editorial vibe. When my longtime best friend (18 years to be exact) Tori agreed to shoot and help me with my vision, I finally had the courage to try and pull this off. We have been dressing each other up and taking ridiculous disposable camera photoshoots of each other since we were in middle school, so I knew if I were to let my guard down and be comfortable in front of the camera with anyone, it would be her. The results ended up being EXACTLY what I wanted, and I know I will cherish these images forever.

Thank you so much Tori for always going along with my crazy shenanigans and helping to make my dream maternity shoot a reality! I love you so much and can't wait for you to be the coolest auntie in the world and teach Gwen about things I never could.