Maternity photoshoot with Gemma and Kieran

It’s been a long, winding and very emotional journey to pregnancy for Gemma and Kieran, but now they are just weeks away from meeting and holding their baby boy.

He will be the fifth grandchild on Kieran’s side of the family, and the first grandchild on Gemma’s side (so her mum is absolutely beside herself with excitement!).

Gemma’s mum has already been amazing with the practical side of life, such as knitting clothes, helping out with cleaning and looking after the couple’s pets while they attended their maternity photoshoot with me.

That’s because Gemma and Kieran’s new arrival will be joining the couple’s fur babies: Mabel, 9, and Bear, a 14-month-old springer puppy.

Gemma had read that dogs have such enhanced hearing that they can pick up on the sounds of baby’s heartbeat – that could explain why Mabel loves to lie across Gemma’s baby bump so much. 

Mabel and Bear were the stars in the couple’s baby announcement picture, and the couple hope they’ll very much give the baby a warm welcome, too.

To this end, Gemma has been following the steps outlined by the Instagrammer @dogmeets_baby to ensure everything gets off to a positive start.

For example, they’ve set the Moses basket up early, to give the dogs a chance to get used to it.

After the birth, Kieran will bring home a babygro that the baby has worn, so that the dogs can get used to his scent.

And they’ve started introducing new rules as soon as they found out they were expecting.

Staggering adjustments like these over a long stretch of time means that the dogs won’t face the overwhelming confusion of having everything in their world change all at once.

First though, the couple have an extra special treat to enjoy for themselves: the day after their maternity photoshoot with me, they headed off for a ‘Babymoon’ – a last mini-break as a couple before baby arrives.

They are booked in to a lodge at one of the UK’s top spa hotels for three nights of total rest and relaxation.

However, I imagine that every day will also be threaded through with incredible excitement that soon – finally! – they will be mum and dad together.

Half-siblings Jackson and Jessica are also looking forward to meeting their new brother, with Jessica especially keen to get him one of those remote-controlled cars children can sit in while she manoeuvres him around using the remote control!

And after so much patience and hope and disappointment and tears, I’m so pleased that Gemma and Kieran’s journey to parenthood as a couple is finally having a happy ending, with their life as a blended family just about to start 🙂

“We’re so pleased with the images resulting from our Maternity photoshoot with Sarah. She made us feel at ease from the minute we walked in to the room, fun session & really excited about our newborn shoot with her once our little one arrives! Lovely studio & extremely clean. Highly recommend!”

Kieran & Gemma Ayres, maternity photoshoot clients from Didcot, Oxfordshire

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If you’re interested in maternity photography and you’re based in or 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).