Emma + Andrew have been together for 11 years and love to travel! Their fun-loving sides came out during their maternity photo shoot with Nashville maternity photographer Emily Green Creative. The lake and park were the perfect location as this couple is outdoorsy and loves a good adventure. We’re excited to show you more of their beautiful photos along with an interview with Emma below!
Tell us about you guys as a couple/family!
Emma: My husband and I have been together for nearly 11 years. We met my freshman year of college at East Tennessee State University. We feel like we truly have been through each of life’s stages together. Wild college days, long graduate school days, married life, and now starting a family. After college and my husband finished medical school, we moved to Florida to finish his psychiatry training as well as my graduate studies. We bought our first home together there and got married about a year later. Everyone thought we were crazy for moving together as a non married couple, but we feel like it was the best decision for us! We wanted to ensure that once we got married, it would be forever. Now, neither of us can imagine life without the other. We literally do everything together. One of our favorite things we do is “challenges.” For example, we decided to be vegetarians for a year to see if we could do it, and we sure did! Since moving back to Tennessee in 2017, we have tried to explore the world together. One of our favorite activities is traveling and exploring new cities- mostly for the food and coffee. We have been to Greece, Italy, Canada, Dubai, and Iceland. Even though our travels will slow down for a while, we look forward to traveling with Iris so she can experience all of the world’s treasures .
What was the moment like when you found out you were pregnant?
Emma: We found out I was pregnant the day we got back from Iceland. I had a weird feeling while we were traveling and decided I should take a test when we got back. I did it first thing in the morning and waited until Andrew woke up so he could find the test. We were both so overwhelmed with joy as we had been hoping for this for quite some time. It seemed like it was finally meant to be. We were excited but also so nervous. It felt even more special after having the best week of travel with each other. I will never forget that moment.
How did you announce you were pregnant to your family/friends?
Emma: We waited until 13 weeks to tell anyone about our pregnancy. We told our families and friends first by sending them the ultrasound pictures and calling them. We had pictures taken for our announcement on social media at 16 weeks. We decided it was such a special moment, that we wanted to have great pictures to commemorate the occasion. Emily took some sweet photos of us with our two labradoodles, Lola and Rufus. We did the announcement and gender reveal at the same time.
How has your family reacted to your pregnancy?
Emma: They were so excited for us. Both of our families have been begging for grandchildren from us for years, so they definitely couldn’t contain their excitement. My sister actually found out she was pregnant a month before us, so when my mom found out we were both pregnant, she immediately retired!
How has your pregnancy been so far?
Emma: The pregnancy has now come to an end (a little over 2 weeks now!), and it was a roller coaster! The first trimester was basically full time exhaustion and food aversions. I lost my love for coffee, which is something I never thought would happen to me. I also only wanted fruit- especially lemons! Working full time and keeping the pregnancy a secret was hard. I would literally nap in my car at lunch time everyday to make it through the day. I finally got my appetite back to normal in the second trimester, but the fatigue lingered until about 20 weeks for me. Weeks 20-29 were amazing. I finally had a cute bump to show off, and I felt pretty good most of the time. We also went on our baby moon to Italy weeks 27 to 28, and it was the best decision we made. I am so glad we got to have that one on one time in a beautiful country before Iris arrived. The third trimester was honestly the worst for me. I experienced a lot of back pain, and I became increasingly eager to meet our baby girl. I would count down the days until we could meet her. I have to admit that having a bump was fun though! There is nothing like feeling your baby kick you in the middle of the day to make you feel so thankful for a healthy and happy baby. We had our sweet angel at 39 weeks and 1 day, and it was the best day of our lives!
How far along are you in the maternity photos?
Emma: We did our photos at 35 weeks.
How did you come up with your concept/location for your photos?
Emma: I wanted the pictures to be in nature and very natural. I am not a big fan of over stylized and filtered photos, so this was perfect. Emily actually had taken some pictures of another couple for engagement photos at this location, and I fell in love with it. I love the combination of woods and water. The light in the early evening is absolutely perfect. I had always pictured us in ivory, neutral attire with a whimsical vibe for the photos. I think we nailed it.
What was it like during the shoot working with the photographer?
Emma: Emily is amazing! Her personality is really perfect for this field. She’s very approachable and makes you feel super comfortable. She gives you great direction but isn’t overbearing. I like that she wants your opinion on positioning and locations but is also willing to take the lead.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your maternity shoot?
Emma: I couldn’t have asked for better photos. Emily captured this wonderful time in our lives perfectly. I can’t wait to have her take photos of our family as we grow.
Thank you so much to Emma for telling your pregnancy story and to Emily for sharing these beautiful Nashville maternity photos with us! You can check out more of Emily Green Creative’s work HERE!
