Mighty Hope Photography

I am a NICU Mom. I will always be a NICU Mom. What my family and I have lived through in the NICU has left me forever changed. It was the hardest thing I have ever been through, but ultimately I made it out on the other end.

As a professional photographer with my own medically complex child, I know all too well how challenging it can be to get great photos when there are health considerations. It is therefore my desire to support other medically complex families by providing FREE Newborn or Family photography sessions to families with a medically complex baby or toddler (0-5yo). Thirty minutes, full edited gallery, no strings attached. Due to limited availability, currently restricting this to families with a baby or toddler (5 and under) that live in the Greater Sacramento Area and are actively medically complex. I would love nothing more than to be able to expand this in the future. Please contact me if you qualify or know someone who does.

Why “Mighty Hope”?

We called our son Mighty Levi when he was in the NICU, so the name is homage to that. Our medically complex babies are mighty! Fighters, every single last one of them. And so are their families. My hope would be to one day increase Mighty Hope Photography into a larger charity that connects more photographers with more families for free sessions, which is why I have created the name. But for now, it’s just me.

My Story:

If it could go wrong, it went wrong for my pregnancy. Extremely high risk from start to finish, I ultimately had my son Levi at 28 weeks and 3 days gestation due to HELLP Syndrome, Preeclampsia, IUGR and multiple other complications! Levi was born at just 1lbs 15 ounces, spent 3 months in the Sutter Sacramento NICU, and 6 months on oxygen.

The 93 days we spent in the NICU were the hardest, most stressful, most emotional days I have gone through. But while it got better at home, it didn’t particularly get easier. Eventually we made it out on the other side, and Levi is a happy healthy kid who is meeting milestones. But it wasn’t always like that, and even once we were out of the NICU there was a lot of stress and mental anguish, not to mention the weekly doctors’ appointments with various specialists. My desire is to help ease this mental burden of other families by providing a free service that will bring you joy. Having a mentally complex child can make it difficult to have Newborn or Family photos taken. But I do not think it is impossible, especially when taken by someone familiar with the medically complex life and willing to work with families to mitigate the additional health risks that exist.

Details:

• I will come to your home healthy and fully n95 masked for the duration (any sickness symptom will lead to a reschedule). Options to meet in a outdoors are also there, if the family prefers and is comfortable with this.

• I will work with you during the photoshoot to make sure everyone feels comfortable and safe during the photoshoot. I will stay for as long is necessary to get the desired photos. I am patient and great with kids, we will work together to find what works best.

• You will receive a fully edited and fully downloadable gallery once the editing is complete. No charges of any kind ever in the process.