As the New Year started, many of my birth photographer friends made slideshows or collages of all their 2016 births. The International Association of Professional Birth Photographers, of which I am a member, announced their annual photo contest. Everyone was buzzing with excitement, sharing their photos. As I do every year, I anticipated sharing my 2016 “birth stats.”

births of 2016

My 2016 was a bit out of the norm as far as my birth photography goes. Due to a number of factors, I only photographed one birth last year. Henry. I would’ve loved to have made a slideshow, or collage, or have entered the photo contest. But Henry was different.

His birth was amazing, as I’ve blogged about here. His parents are incredible, as I’ve blogged about here. And then Henry passed away. We should have been doing his six month portrait session, but instead I was photographing his funeral.

My heart still aches for Henry’s family. While all these other things are good and all, I just wasn’t feeling it this year.

Hug your loved ones tight. Let them know how much they mean to you. Make every moment count.

And if you want to see the winners of the 2017 birth photo contest, click here.