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Aw I'm sorry! It's hard when you think you are going to just love it and it turns out to be not what you expect.

I think switching to 6 month photos makes a lot of sense. I wanted some pictures of my pregnant to remember it by, but I knew I would never display photos of me being super pregnant around the house. But I'd definitely put pictures of my 6 month old around!

If your not comfortable with it I would do a 6 month shoot instead! Maybe u and your hubby can be in a couple too with your lo.

Aw! I'm so sorry you feel this way. I bet you look amazing - truly. I know there are some people who felt the same as you and when they had the photos, they were glad they did. I think rainbow_sprinkles was one of them - her friend gifted her a session but initially she was hesitant.

But it sounds like you may value 6-month session photos more? Perhaps you could compromise and maybe have a friend take a few nice maternity photos but do the professional session when baby is 6 months?

@spaniellove: How far along are you now? If it's something you don't feel comfortable with, it will show in the pictures. But, with that being said, it's a special time, and even though you might be over it now, you might get sentimental when you look back on your pregnancy and want some kind of documentation.

I was fairly uncomfortable with my body during most of the pregnancy and never had the desire to document it. So I'd probably opt for the 6 month pics. That being said, I embraced the bump more in the late second trimester so your feelings might change.

You can do a photo where you are in shadow, so you can't see details. It's a wonderful time of your life, you will at least want ONE photo, so I would do it.

Do what you feel comfortable with! I'm not doing maternity photos (other than DIY ones my husband took last weekend in the snow in our backyard) because I'd rather pay for pics with the babies in them than just me. Everyone is different, but there are some weeks when I feel like I look crazy awful and others where I feel really beautiful. The weeks where I feel beautiful with a great looking bump, I ask my husband to take photos (on the real camera, not my phone) so this process is getting documented. But I just don't want to spend a lot for pics of gigantic me.

I got maternity photos and plan on getting them again. But if you do not feel comfortable, I'd switch to a 6 month photo shoot. Have to do what you feel is best for you!

@mamimami: haha, totally this. I didn't get them done (even though I actually liked my pregnant belly) and have no regrets.

I didn't do maternity photos and part of me kind of regrets it. I was SO HUGE, with +70 pounds gained by the end. But now a year later, it feels like a lifetime ago and I have a hard time remembering what I looked like. If I had gotten them done, I don't think I would have hung them around the house or anything, but would have been nice to have them for memory's sake. As it is, I only have a random scattering of side shots with my head missing because I refused to let DH take full body shots.

I agree with others about maybe having some informal ones done, even with your DH to just capture this phase of your life before you have the baby.

You should keep it! If you can get your hair & make up done, find some clothes that you feel really good in, and if the photographer is good, I am sure he can make sure to shoot you in angles that will make you look fab!

I didn't have formal maternity pictures of my pregnancy taken and I don't regret it one bit. I, too, felt like a whale and I took bump shots for my own memory (and of course pictures at my showers, etc.) but nothing formal and I haven't had a second thought about it.

I figured that just because something was popular didn't mean I needed to do it to!

All that to say, do what you feel most comfortable doing. I don't think any of us can make that decision for you since we don't know what you're feeling.

I felt the same way. I don't like getting my pictures taken in general anyway. I truly love other people's maternity pics, but I knew I would never display any of my own. My husband took weekly pictures of my bump and a few other poses to show our daughter someday. I am pregnant with baby #2 and plan on following the same plan this time. Absolutely no regrets here!

@spaniellove: I did!
I didn't feel ugly or anything, it was just "not me". This lady with a huge belly and super dry face and oily hair wasn't me!! I didn't want $100s of dollars worth of photography of someone who felt like a stranger to me. We opted for 4 week photos, 6m photos and 1 year photos (DH & I were in the 1 year photos with LO).

ETA: I did my own DIY monthly belly shots in my bathroom that way if my LO is curious, he has pictures and I use them as reference as well.

@Happygal:

<<I think there are a lot of expectations that women will love being pregnant. So many of my friends have shared that they did not--they were uncomfortable with the changes, felt gross, were sick, anxious, etc. I think the more people are honest about that, the more women can not feel guilty or disappointed if they don't love it as well.>>

This, this, this!! I think it's extra hard when it took you a long time to get to this point. You spend (or I spent) *so* much time longing for it, and when it turns out to be nothing like you expect it will be...well, it's difficult to describe how disappointing and guilt-inducing it is to think that you might not really like being pregnant.

Anyways, not trying to threadjack-just wanted to say thanks for your wisdom, even if it wasn't directed to me

@spaniellove: I would switch to 6 month photos if you can. I got maternity photos done (because a photog friend sort of insisted) and I'm happy with them, but I haven't printed a single one (LO is now 4.5 months) and I'm not sure what I would do with them. I don't regret them, but I probably wouldn't do it again. I think its nice to have pictures of yourself with your big belly, but I think you can accomplish that yourself or have DH do it. Actually my favorite photo of me and my pregnant belly is the week I had my daughter and my husband took it with his phone in my messy house, so there is that.

@LovelyPlum:

@spaniellove: cancel if you think you are going to hate them! There's no point wasting the money on something you hate and won't look at.
I have exactly one photo of me pregnant from my baby shower and that's plenty for me!
Bear in mind that this is coming from someone who wasn't even wild about doing wedding and engagement photos- I just dislike forced sentimentality and staged photoshoots feel like that to me