Month 1

by Ashley Weeks Cart

These photographs areĀ  part of a series I have started with a local Berkshire photographer, Kate Drew Miller. The hope is to document the entirety of the pregnancy, and create a series of time lapse videos from the shoots as my belly grows into oblivion.

(Yes, I know, the stop motion/time lapse obsession continues!)

I’ll share monthly stills that I like best from the shoots and pair them with different sound bytes running through my head throughout the pregnancy. I’m choosing to wear a black romper to start as it was quite accommodating throughout my whole pregnancy with Addison, and am certain it will serve me equally well this go round.

I’m practicing yoga three times a week to break up my cardio work spinning. Just look at the concentration on my face as I desperately try to maintain balance despite the pregnancy hormones knocking me around like a ship in the waves. Yoga class is where I can relax, stretch, and I hope build some serious strength for the epic labor I must confront in less than 9 months. Plus, my midwives have strongly endorsed the habit, and I’m going to heed their suggestions. They’ve seen labor and delivery several hundred times. What they say, goes.

I need to remember that my waist indeed appears small compared to what is about to happen over the course of the next 8 months. Ah perspective.

Expect Month 2 shortly, as I hit 8 weeks today.

Photo: Courtesy of Kate Drew Miller Photographer