Pregnancy is beautiful, but also stressful- you and your partner have a million things on your to do list:


Find an OB and pediatrician, take a birthing course,

"what will we name our baby?", make a baby registry, plan a baby shower,

go on a babymoon, decorate the nursery- on top of a ton of doctors appointments,

napping as much as possible, eating everything in site....

oh, and of course, scheduling a maternity session!

The list is never ending, and pregnancy brain does not help with keeping all of these things in order!



So when should you schedule a maternity session?


I promise putting this on your to-do list is something you won't regret. The best time to schedule your maternity photo session is between 28-34 weeks pregnant, near the beginning of your 3rd trimester. This is the perfect timing because your bump will now be at a point where there's no hiding that you are pregnant; baby is officially showing off and giving you that "pregnancy glow". At this point in pregnancy, you also may still have some of the lingering energy from your 2nd trimester, so getting dressed up and ready for a maternity session is still something you will have energy for.



But google says I can schedule up to 36 weeks!


Yes, it does. But from my experience, through working in the medical field and working with many pregnant moms- babies come on their own time, and sometimes that means a few weeks early, which means you may miss out on your maternity session altogether! I promise that the the beginning of the third trimester is also still early enough to where, if pregnancy has gone smoothly, you usually don't have to worry about the possibility of an elective or medical induction (which doctors will tell you usually occur around 37-38 weeks).



When should I contact my photographer?


If you know you want to schedule a maternity session, I would reach out to your maternity photographer around the 20-24 week mark in your pregnancy. This ensures your photographer-to-be will still hopefully have room in his or her schedule for a maternity session. If you know your photographer books up far in advance, I would reach out as soon as you want to about booking a maternity session!