Journey of love and hope: Mother shares captivating photos of the ‘Rainbow Baby’ quartet and family

THE STORY

After the birth of their son, Carson, this sweet couple tried for over a year to grow their family. After multiple heartbreaking miscarriages, they decided to try fertility treatments. For a while, it seemed that not even that would work. Lindsay and Syman experienced two more unsuccessful pregnancies after they began treatment.

Hope is what carries us through those times though, and finally Lindsay and Syman received the incredible news that they were expecting not one, but four babies! Three boys and one girl. It was a shock, a joy, and a bit of a surreal experience, as I’m sure you can imagine.

Mom and Dad had a lot of conflicting excitement and anxiety as the pregnancy progressed. Excitement about these four precious little ones–but anxiety that there might be problems. The chances of complications are higher with multiple births, and this couple prayed that everything would be okay with the babies they had hoped and prayed so hard for.

These quadruplets were delivered via C-section and had to spend some time in the NICU being looked after by the professionals. Lindsay and Syman were expecting this, but it was still hard not being able to bring their babies home immediately. Thanks to amazing medical professionals and tons of prayers, all four babies did great during their hospital stay. Eventually they all got to come home–and then to my photography studio!

QUADRUPLETS NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY: CAIDEN, LUCAS, GRAYSON, AND MADISON

I was over the moon when Lindsay and I connected and decided that I would photograph her new foursome. Was it challenging? Yes, but I wouldn’t trade a single minute that I spent with this awesome family.

I am totally in awe of how well Mom and Dad manage to care for four infants and a toddler. And big brother Carson was such a sweetheart. Loved photographing him with his new little brothers and sister.

Posing quadruplets is not an easy thing. I spent the weeks leading up to our session researching other photographers who have done similar sessions and trying to get an idea of what would be possible. I wanted to be fun and creative but I also understood that there are only so many set ups you can physically do with four babies.

My main goal was to create a beautiful family portrait for Lindsay and Syman. Posing parents with four little ones plus an older child is not as easy as it sounds. I decided that the safest and the most comfortable way for everyone involved would be to do it on the bed. I covered the bed with a few blankets of different textures and threw some nice comfy pillows around. The headboard is an antique door I purchased a while back and I love how it completed the whole look. We got exactly what I envisioned and Mom and Dad loved the final product as well.

Since the babies were being honored as rainbow babies , I knew that I had to do something to incorporate all the colors of the rainbow. On one of my many trips to Michael’s I picked up wooden letters to spell HELLO and painted them pastel colors. I simply love how it turned out.

Since Syman is from Australia I decided to incorporate koalas and some bamboo leaves into one of the set ups as well. I told Lindsay that I was planning on doing it but we kept it a secret from Syman. I was so happy with the final photo and am glad I was able to surprise Dad with something special just for him.

Lindsey and I talked few times before the session and she really wanted a shot with the boys holding signs saying, “Don’t mess with her.” I loved that idea and went with it. The final photo turned out so cute and I am sure Maddie will cherish this one forever.

The bucket shot was the most complicated one since we couldn’t put four babies in their own buckets at the same time. The final image is a composite of four different photos. That way we were able to keep all the babies happy and safe with one of the assistants always close by. Since I couldn’t decide if I liked the fall theme or a green/jungle theme better, I did both. I love how both of them turned out.

What ended up being my favorite image of the session was a simple set up with all four babies cuddled together on a simple ivory blanket. I covered them with a cute ivory wrap and got them all snuggled in. I think what makes this image so special and tender is the closeness between all the babies. You can see their faces turned toward each other, hugging each other, the two boys holding hands. This photo really warms my heart every time I look at it. Pure and simple.

There were few other shots that were not planned, like those forty sweet little toes all lined up together! It was the last shot of the session and Megan suggested that we try to do that. Since the babies were so well behaved we’ve decided to go for it and I just love how it turned out.

INFERTILITY AND RAINBOW BABIES

The journey Lindsay and Syman went through, while unique to them, is one to which many couples can relate. It’s estimated that 1 in 8 couples has trouble either getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy. While fertility treatments don’t work for everyone, they can be an answer to prayer for many couples.

Another experience many people can relate to is that of pregnancy loss or infant loss. Sadly, losing a baby due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or other complications is not uncommon. Rainbow babies like these newborn quadruplets are so called because their arrival is like the joy of a rainbow after the storm of pain and grief. What a blessing!

If you are a Rainbow Mom yourself, please check out my Rainbow Baby Program. I would love to hear your story and get a chance to photograph your own precious rainbow.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE NAMES FOR QUADRUPLETS?

Lindsay shared her story about choosing their babies’ names on Instagram: “Caiden, Lucas, and Grayson are just named we happened to like. Madison is another name we liked with some significance — we spent the day at Madison Square Garden in NYC the day we started injections for this cycle that worked. The middle name Michael is one of my brother’s first name, the middle name William is Syman’s grandfather’s middle name, and the middle name James we have in the family as well. The middle name Grace holds meaning for me too just given its definition.”

JUST HOW UNUSUAL IS IT TO HAVE QUADRUPLETS?

If you’re wondering what your chances are having this many babies at once–it’s pretty unlikely. According to the CDC, only 228 quadruplet births were recorded in the U.S. in 2015 (the most recent year for which they’ve released multiple births statistics.) Lindsay and Syman were just one of the very lucky couples! It was truly a delight to do this quadruplets newborn photography session for them.

NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY NJ

No matter if you have one baby or four, if you’re looking for a newborn photographer you’ve come to the right spot! I hope you’ll contact me about photographing your precious little one. Newborn photography is one of the joys of my life and I would love to share that joy with you. I can’t wait to meet you and your family!