Meet Harry, Catherine, Frances and Helen! These ADORABLE quadruplets were born on January 22, at a gestational age of thirty-two weeks and four days. After four weeks in the NICU and two months at home, they were finally ready to be welcomed into the world at their first photoshoot. How many photographers did it take to photograph these four babies? FOUR!! One photographer and three assistants. <wink>
Their Story
Mom and Dad’s sorrow to not be able to have a baby lasted five long years. As an attempt to fill their lives and their longing hearts with a child, they underwent unsuccessful fertility treatments followed by one last attempt against the odds. You can imagine their joy when they found out they were finally pregnant! At their six week ultrasound, a steady heartbeat was found, followed by another and another! Triplets, they were told. They were overjoyed as they left the doctor’s office that day. Never in their wildest dreams would they expect to find a fourth heartbeat at the eight week ultrasound that followed. Three girls and one boy (which mom admitted they found out in advance because they already had enough surprises <giggle>).
Meet the Photographer
Samantha Jessup, owner of Miracle Kisses was the exclusive photographer. She brought in three other photographers, myself included, to help. I had the pleasure of assisting with Brittany Gamblin, newborn and family photographer and owner of Brittany Gamblin Newborn Photography, and DeAnna Weyhrich, birth photographer and owner of ddWeyhrich Birth Photography. We too got some fun behind the scenes shots when weren’t doing other things. We were all very busy holding, feeding, wrapping, soothing, and learning all about life with quadruplets! I’ve posted links to the other photographer’s pictures of this session below. It’s fun to see each of our individual perspectives!
Set Up
By the time we arrived in studio, Samatha had prepped everything. She designed and created the adorable set with the leaves and flowers. Mom and dad love blues and grays, so each baby wore a different shade of blue against the gray backdrop. You will find one her beautiful images at the bottom of this post.
Session Duration
We all sympathized running a few minutes behind to the session when we learned it was the first time mom and dad left the house with all four babies. Even their pediatric appointments are only two babies at a time. We hoped for three hours in duration, but it did go a little over. Considering that all four babies slept so well for the majority of it, we felt great about the session time and as newborn photographers, we all admitted that a single newborn can take just as long. Those babies ROCKED IT!
Wrapping
The babies arrived asleep in their carseats, but immediately awoke when getting undressed. Each of us wrapped a baby, which quickly soothed these little ones back to their blissful sleep. For simplicity, the babies stayed in their same wraps for most of the session, even for their mid-session feeding. Pro newborn photographer tip – the less fuss over the babies, the better!
Full Home, Full Hearts
Most of us have no idea how much work it is to care for quadruplets. But we can all imagine having a love that runs deep, multiplied by four. This home may be full and always busy, but their hearts have exploded to an even greater fullness that makes it all worth it. I’m so happy for this sweet family. Congratulations to the SIX of you!
Follow the Fair Four Quads
This unique story and these four babies (known as the #fairfourquads) are turning the attention of many. You can follow them and watch them grow on Instagram and Facebook. I know I will!
Now that you have the full scoop, here are the behind the scenes footage (in chronological order) of what it was like to be in studio for this incredible opportunity.
Don’t miss the blogs of all the other photographers. Samantha was gracious in allowing us to share our experience with you all! We’ve linked to one another so you can easily click between them to get the complete story and see them all!
Miracle Kisses – main photographer
Brittany Gamblin Newborn Photography – assistant
ddWeyhrich Birth Photography – assistant
(and me! Jamie Herrera Photography – assistant)
Photo credit: Samantha Jessup, owner and photographer at Miracle Kisses
