Nearly three years ago I met this mama in Fort Worth to photograph her and her sweet, newly one year old little girl, Alice.You can imagine my excitement when she contacted me wanting to make the long trek from Fort Worth to Rockport in honor of her second daughter, Hilde, turning one.
From Bethany:
" All my life, I knew I wanted to be a mother. But I didn't know I would have to fight to become one. Once I became pregnant, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. But I didnt know I would have to fight for that too.
I fought to conceive both children with tons of supplements, diet changes, hormone panels, chiropractic care, and even acupuncture. I fought fiercly with both children to breastfeed, my younger much much more than my older. Through therapies, tie corrections, pumping, LC help, and overwhelming support, both of them received exclusive breastmilk until six months and nursed to a year+.
I fully intend on making sure they both know how much I worked for them. Not for guilt, never for guilt. But so they have instilled in them that what they want, what they know is right, is worth fighting for. You have to fight for it. You have to put in your whole self and face it with a calm heart despite any and all pushback. Giving up is not an option as long as there is the slightest glimmer of hope. As females, they must face most all things in this world with this stance. They must know that everyone will expect them to give up or fail, because girls 'aren't supposed' to have the same perseverance and tenacity as boys.
Like so many other mamas, I will one day release my tiny, amazing daughters into the world as grown women. I can only hope and pray that what I've taught them stays with them."
Thank you for sharing your darling, fair hair haired little ladies with me over the years, Bethany. I look to many, many more beautiful moments in your motherhood journey <3
