Photos

These photos are from the "How Is Connor?" website period and span his birth through 18 months.

At Birth

These photos were taken at the hospital when he was born and when we first brought him home.

1 Month

Steve Colwill, from Poetic Exposure came to the house when Connor was 4 weeks old. These are some of the wonderful pictures we got from that session.

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

NILMDTS Photos - 6 and 7 months

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NIMLTDS) is an amazing organization that provides remembrance photography services for families experiencing an early infant loss. These wonderful photos were taken by Michelle Clynch, one of their volunteer photographers and area coordinators.

Some background:

A friend of ours sent us the NILMDTS link after we discovered Connor's diagnosis and prognosis. Since Connor was now six months and we had no idea (and still don't know) how long we'll be blessed with him, I figured we would not qualify for a session. However, I decided to contact them because I knew we wanted to capture images of his wonderful smile and happy nature and wanted to hire a photographer who would be sensitive to Connor's condition.

I called the area coordinator, David, and he agreed to put us in touch with a couple of photographers and then we could work out our own arrangements. My subconscious must have been working overtime because that was early in the day on December 20th. By mid-morning, Connor was listless and non-responsive. By that evening, he was in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit), after a harrowing period in the Emergency Room. He was severely dehydrated and was in septic shock.

Grabbing our things and heading to the hospital, we knew he was in bad shape. In my panic, I could only think that we hadn't had a chance yet to get the photos I wanted of him and soon it might be too late - that we might lose him this time. On the 20 minute drive to the hospital (we were going pretty fast), I called three people -- First, I asked my sister to contact our family and tell them that if they wanted to see Connor, they might want to come immediately. Then I called a good friend to tell her the same. The last person I called was the NILMDTS area coordinator again.

David's wife picked up the phone. She told us that Shelly had already decided she would do our photos and had planned to call us later, but she was going to call her husband and Michelle now to let them know we were heading to the hospital. David was already at the hospital, sadly taking pictures of another infant. By the time David found us, Connor was stable in the PICU. Shelly sent him home, as those sessions are both physically and emotionally draining. I have the utmost admiration for the care and dedication these photographers have; it must be heart wrenching to be so close to such loss over and over again. The gifts they provide these families with are priceless.

The pictures you see here are from two sessions - the first set in the slideshow are from the hospital when we were in the PICU. The second set are pictures she took when we came home in January. Connor was still severely jaundiced from his liver damage, but he had started to regain some of the weight he had lost in November and December.

Thank you, Michelle, for your time, your caring, and the beautiful pictures you took near one of our darkest moments. We will not forget your generosity.

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

1 Year!

Connor's 1st Year Photo Session Video ~ Michelle Clynch put together this amazing photo-video from Connor's 1 year photo session. He's exactly one year old here! (Not only were these taken on his birthday, coincidentally it was a mid-morning appointment, which was about the same time he was born.)

13 Months

14 Months

15 Months

16 Months

17 Months

18 Months - Christmas 2009