Older newborn photos with 4-week-old Dia

“I’d heard people mention a ‘newborn baby smell’,” new mum Jean told me, “but I hadn’t realised how strong it would be – it’s like a powerful perfume! I could spend all day holding her, cuddling her and breathing in that wonderful scent from the top of her head.”

Indeed, these peaceful moments spent breathing in baby Dia’s scent and falling in love with her have been the highlights so far for Jean.

For Apostolis the highlight was seeing Dia’s arrival. Jean had a 30-hour labour followed by an emergency C-section, and everything felt a bit surreal to Apostolis for a while. But then he saw Dia lifted out from her mum, helped to cut the cord and had his first cuddle.

The doctors and nurses were super helpful and friendly, even taking photos on Apostolis’ phone of his very first moments with Dia.

Jean and Apostolis met in an Oxford club back in their student days, where they were each acting as ‘wing man and woman’ for their friends. Those friends didn’t end up getting together, but Jean and Apostolis have now been together for ten years and married for five. As you can imagine, there was no rainy wedding British wedding for this international couple: instead, they held their ceremony and celebrations in sunny Greece.

Neither Jean and Apostolis have any siblings, so you can image how exceptionally excited their parents are about Dia’s arrival: she’s the first grandchild on both sides.

To help the couple settle into family life, Jean’s mum, Wenxi Sun, has travelled over from China to stay for a few months. As an added bonus, that meant she could come along to the photoshoot, enabling us to capture three generations of strong, beautiful women together:

Dia’s full name is Diamato, a Greek name given to her in honour of her eponymous paternal grandmother.

Apostolis’ parents aren’t able to travel, so instead are eagerly anticipating the new family’s visit next Easter. In particular, Apostolis can’t wait for his 94-year-old Great Grandmother to meet and hold Dia, which will be an incredibly emotional moment.

In the meantime, the international family members are making do with daily photos and video calls, and are showing an insatiable demand for more! 

Thankfully Jean and Apostolis now have these images from their Newborn Photoshoot to share as well, although they will have to ration them out to one a week to bridge the gap until they all meet up at Easter! 🙂

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If you’re interested in newborn portraits or family photography in and around Bicester, Oxfordshire, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning qualified, certified professional newborn and family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).