A lifestyle newborn session located in Hanson, Kentucky

Beautiful baby boy. Beautiful family. Beautiful nursery. Beautiful memories.

It was such a pleasure to meet Boone Weller. He snoozed away for most of our time together, and my goodness, he is such a sweetie. I have so enjoyed getting to know Cody and Brooke through their pregnancy announcement and maternity session. I am honored to capture these moments in time for this precious family and pray the photos bring joy forever.

I reached out to Brooke to see if they were interested in sharing their journey. When she sent me their story, I was just so overwhelmed with her openness and vulnerability. Brooke and Cody’s story is such a testament to God’s perfect timing and goodness. Her wish and prayer for sharing their story was that it would bring hope to families who are experiencing the same journey. Here is the beautiful, emotional story from Brooke’s point of view:

“Having kids and starting a family was always something that Cody and I knew we wanted. After getting married in 2013, we chose to wait a few years to achieve some professional goals and travel just the two of us. Not assuming we’d have any trouble getting pregnant, we were waiting until we were sure we were “ready”. I stopped birth control in July of 2016. Expecting to get pregnant without any trouble, that didn’t happen. I tracked ovulation, and did all the things I’d read about and talked to friends about. I talked to my family doctor about stopping birth control before I did and she said to give it 3 months for the birth control to get out of your system. She referred us to Dr. Rashidian, an ob/gyn in Owensboro who saw patients once a month here in Madisonville. I waited until January of 2017 to get an appointment with her. She ran blood work, did an exam, and told Cody to get a sperm analysis too. She gave me a prescription for clomid to start too, this was all before we had any test results back. I was reluctant to start medicine because we hadn’t even tried for a year yet. We decided to wait until July and if we still weren’t pregnant by then, a year off birth control, we would move forward with the sperm analysis and clomid. July rolls around and we’re still not pregnant. We go back to see Dr. Rashidian, did more blood work and Cody did the sperm analysis. They saw nothing wrong with Cody but my AMH was low. She also did an HSG, she inserted dye into my tubes to make sure they weren’t blocked. My tubes were clear. She referred us to Dr. William Gentry, a fertility specialist in Evansville. We got in to see him in July. The first thing they asked was what were we doing for Cody’s low motility, this was the first we’d heard of him having a problem, so they started him on a supplement called L Carnitine. Dr. Gentry was extremely thorough. We started talking about my painful periods and digestive problems. He asked if I’d ever been diagnosed with endometriosis. I hadn’t, no doctor had ever mentioned it but I did have a close friend who had it. The only way to test is to do a laparoscopy. He gave us some options, we could try and IUI, do the laparoscopy, or go straight to IVF. We chose to try and IUI first with Femara, like clomid. It’s an in office procedure and is much more cost friendly than IVF. We did this in September. It didn’t work, and I was heart broken. At our next visit we decided to schedule the laparoscopy to see if I had endometriosis. This was done at an outpatient clinic in Evansville and was not painful at all. I do have endometriosis and Dr. Gentry was able to clean it all out. Our next step, was to heal and then try another IUI. We did our second IUI in December of 2017 and it didn’t work either. At this point, we were both emotionally drained and I was physically drained. The medicine and procedures, along with teaching full time, really took a toll on my body. We decided to take the first of 2018 off and try again later.  If we weren’t pregnant by the end of the 2018 school year, we would proceed with IVF. After spring break, I called to setup an appointment for the middle of May to get IVF  rolling. I started my period in May and then started medicine for the egg retrieval process. We did the egg retrieval on June 4th and planned to do a fresh transfer 5 days later. I hyperstimmed and was in SO much pain that they decided to cancel my transfer and freeze our embryos. We were completely devastated but looking back it was the best decision because my body had time to heal. We scheduled my frozen transfer for July 30th and would be able to take a blood test August 10th. I could not wait and took an at home test on August 7th and it was positive! Each day after I continued tested and it got darker each day. I took my blood test Friday and got the positive results Sunday. Had to redo them Monday, because they double every 48 hours and Wednesday they had more than doubled! We had our first ultrasound to confirm heartbeat on August 29th and was 7 weeks then. We had another US at 9 and 11 weeks then we’re released to our regular OBgyn here in town at 13 weeks. Other than being nauseous and some swelling. the whole pregnancy was great. At our 36 week appointment, on a Thursday, I was swollen pretty badly around the ankles, feet, and legs. When my blood pressure was checked, it was a little high, so my doctor admitted us to the hospital for monitoring to see if I had preeclampsia. After 24 hours of monitoring, the results showed that I did have preeclampsia. Our doctor told me not to return to work and that we would probably deliver at 37 weeks. We got to go home for the weekend and had to return on Monday to recheck BP. Again, on Monday, my BP was high and we were readmitted to the hospital, this time only for 4 hours. Our doctor told us we could go home Monday night, monitor BP at home but needed to be back at the hospital the next day ready to stay until Boone was born. On Tuesday, we arrived at the hospital, and got hooked up to an IV bag. I was not dilated so the doctor inserted Cytotec in hopes to begin to soften the cervix. At the next check, I had only dilated about 1/2 centimeter so they inserted another one. At 6 the next morning, they started pitocin. At the next check I had only dilated about 1 cm. Since the meds were not working as they’d hoped, they stopped all meds, let me shower and eat a real meal and then started the whole process over again Wednesday night. In addition, they started me on magnesium since I was preeclamptic. This caused me to be super anxious and my chest started hurting. The doctor came in to check and do an EKG. All checked out and since my BP was good, they stopped the magnesium. In a few hours I was back to normal. Early Thursday morning they started pitocin again and Boone’s heart rate started to drop. Doctors and nurses rushed in and stopped the pitocin. My doctor told me if his HR dropped again we’d have to do a c section. They started pitocin again and his HR dropped again. The emergency c section began around 7:33AM and Boone was born at 7:44AM weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. He is our perfect miracle baby and we’re so thankful each day to be his parents, something that we’d dreamt of for so long had finally come true!”

Scroll down to take a peek at this gorgeous in-home session!

The wood is from the same barn where Brooke & Cody took their wedding photos!

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

A lifestyle newborn session located in Madisonville, Kentucky

From their pregnancy announcement, maternity session, and now newborn photos, I have loved getting to watch Valerie & Grant become Mommy & Daddy. McKinley Kae is just the sweetest and prettiest baby girl. It’s safe to say that she’s got the whole family wrapped around her finger already! Y’all. This nursery is like something out of a magazine! I love how bright and dainty McKinley’s nursery is and it just fits her perfectly. Scroll down to see some of my favorites from McKinley’s newborn session!

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”

Proverbs 31: 25

A lifestyle newborn session located in Madisonville, Kentucky

It seems like just yesterday I was shooting Matt & Jamie’s pregnancy announcement in the fall. I was beyond excited to watch Matt & Jamie become Mama & Dada, but, my goodness, did little Rex surpass all of my hopes and dreams for this little fam. Rex is absolutely PERFECT and has everyone smitten. He is incredibly sweet and loves to cuddle. I ADORE Rex’s lifestyle newborn session. Just look at his precious nursery!! I can’t get over it. An in-home session feels so special and intimate and allows you to see a little glimpse of their life together as a family of three (well, actually four! You can’t forget their dog, Sammi!).

Gosh, what a special time to capture for the Kerperien family! Enjoy a glance at Rex’s newborn session! It doesn’t get much sweeter.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17