When Alyson contacted me to capture her pregnancy & newborn images for her 3rd child, I was so excited!  We decided to go all out and do a studio session with flower crowns, beautiful dresses, get her hair & make up done for her maternity session. It is always so much fun for me to spoil my mamas in the studio.

After the session, we were saying good bye when she mentioned to me that this baby was her rainbow baby and she had miscarried her last baby so we decided to honor her baby with a Rainbow session.   I asked Alyson if she would be willing to share her story as an encouragement to others and to honor all her babies and she did.  One of my favorite presidents, President Ronald Reagan, proclaimed October in 1988 as National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month so I feel this is the perfect time to share her story.  This issue is so close to my heart as I lost a baby a few weeks ago, September 27th, at the 11 week mark of my pregnancy.  It was devastating and something I am still working through but stories like Alyson’s bring hope in a time of my own personal darkness.

If you are struggling with the loss of a baby, be encouraged, and reach out.  I know it is so hard…believe me I know!  My tendency is to pull back and hide but little by little, I have reached out and realize that the best thing to do is to talk about it, let light shine on it, and let people love on you.  And if you have someone in your life who has had a loss…don’t be afraid to just hug them and say “I’m so sorry.  This sucks. What can I do for you?”  This is what they want to hear.  They may say “Nothing” or they may say “Dinner” because the last thing want to do is cook but what they really want to know is it’s ok to grieve and miss the loss of that precious life.

PS…for those who want to know, I used simple kids’ finger paint colors to paint the rainbow on her hands and then she used her fingers on her belly.  Such an easy DIY for this sweet session and then of course, the umbrella is a composite after we threw the umbrella up in the air.  The beautiful rainbow wool is from Oh So Fleeting.

Enjoy Alyson’s story welcoming beautiful Paxleigh and her beautiful images…

“After every storm, comes the rainbow…”

“October 16th, 2015 was a day that changed my life forever. My husband Joey and I were blessed with 2 beautiful girls, Hadleigh and Averleigh. We got pregnant right away with both of them. We decided at the beginning of 2015 that we would try for one more baby. Expecting to get pregnant right away we found ourselves struggling to get pregnant for many months. Finally in late August, we found out we were expecting and due June 6, 2016. We were ecstatic! Then my worst fear started coming true. I started to bleed very heavily. I rushed to the doctor and they confirmed that I could possibly be miscarrying. They ran my hormone levels which confirmed that I was miscarrying. We were devastated. My sweet precious baby went to be with Jesus on October 16th, 2015. I was only 7 weeks pregnant but we loved that baby so much.

A flood of emotions came over me. I was in denial, what had I done wrong? I was mad, why would God let this happen to me? I never expected to have a miscarriage after having 2 healthy pregnancies. Why was this happening to us? Joey and I prayed and prayed for peace. The Lord taught us so much after losing our baby. We felt a closeness with Him that we had longed for. We started having peace with our miscarriage. We talked with the doctor and he told us that we could start trying right away. Joey and I decided that we would and if the Lord wanted us to be pregnant He would see that through. In the meantime we continued to draw nearer to Him.

Much to our surprise we found out we were pregnant on January 3rd, 2016.

Our prayers were answered! In early September we will welcome a precious new baby girl! He is true to His Word!! HE IS FAITHFUL! We have experienced some moments in this pregnancy where we have had to really rely on God’s strength and trust in Him.  The baby was given a 50/50 chance of survival at week 7 from complications. We came together with
some really amazing friends/family and prayed over the baby and me. We were in constant prayer for healing. Just 2 weeks later, we received an amazing report from the ultrasound that GOD HEALED ME! The hematoma in my uterus that was a major cause of concern was GONE! This baby is a miracle and our testimony to share God with the world!  She is our rainbow!!!

Our hope and prayer through us sharing our story is that people would come to know Christ. We have grown so close to Him and have experienced His love and faithfulness in ways we never could have imagined. We are so humbled that He chose us to have this life changing moment with. When deciding a name we really wanted her name to have a special meaning because of everything we had been through. We decided to name her Paxleigh. Pax, in Latin, means kiss of peace and The Lord has certainly given us great peace over this pregnancy and our miscarriage. We look forward to meeting her in a few short weeks. This little one changed our lives forever! She is certainly the rainbow after the storm!!! My prayer is that more women begin to share their stories of loss with each other. It is my belief we can come together and bring awareness to the heartbreak of miscarriage but also the healing that can come from it. God is good and He is able!
#rainbowbaby #healing #miscarriage #Romans15:13 #breakingthesilence
With love-
Alyson Surles”