Newborn photos with five-week-old Margot

Sometimes the smallest of decisions can change your life. Kate told me that Neil is very different to the kind of guy she’d usually go for, but when she saw his picture on Tinder, she decided to swipe right anyway.

They met up for a walk with Kate’s dog, Myla, in the gaps between lockdowns and sparks flew.

They continued to meet almost every day, and soon moved in together. 

They’d had a conversation about having a baby together, and both agreed it was something they’d try for in a year or so. The week after that chat, Kate found out she was pregnant.

All of a sudden, there were some big decisions to make: which house to buy together, what to do about some training Kate had in the pipeline and how to prepare for parenthood.

The first half of 2022 passed in a blur of house-hunting and moving, with a tough first semester of pregnancy thankfully giving way to a smoother third trimester.

And of a sudden Kate and Neil became parents, which came with its own challenges of birth and recovery, breastfeeding and some unplanned hospital visits.

In between this whirlwind of change, there have been so many magical moments: windy smiles, warm cuddles and the awe of watching Margot transform in front of their eyes, almost on a daily basis.

Kate and Neil weren’t sure what name to give their daughter at first, so she was ‘little sausage’ until Day 3, when they decided on the beautiful choice of Margot, from a shortlist of four beautiful names.

Margot joins two other grandchildren on Neil’s side of the family, but is the first on Kate’s side.

This means her mum is especially excited, and travelled down from the Peak District to be at Kate’s side when Margot arrived.

This was an incredible help, as Kate’s mum loved cuddling Margot but was also just as willing to look after the new parents: putting laundry on, cooking food and carrying out the hundred other tasks that a household requires to run smoothly.

Myla, the couple’s two-year-old Pomerian Poodle was excited too.

Although she wanted to get a bit too close to Margot at first, she’s now much more relaxed. She does, however, get up and leave the room if Margot starts crying! 

Neil can’t wait for Margot to start smiling, crawling and interacting as she gets older, with a possible first trip abroad planned for later this year.

For avid horse-rider Kate, the exciting moments are likely to include buying Margot her first My Little Pony set, and then – hopefully – a real pony one day, too, just as Kate had when she was growing up.

In the meantime, it can be overwhelming to look back and realise how many tiny individual decisions led this little family down the path to this day, and how changing any one of those would have a ‘butterfly effect’ on everything that came after it.

That single action to take a chance and swipe right is one of those decisions that truly has paid dividends, especially since it’s resulted in the arrival of perfect little Margot. “It’s the best decision I ever made,” Kate said, beaming down at her daughter. 🙂

“We chose a newborn shoot with Sarah after looking through her IG page. We wanted photos that were a little more natural and family-focussed than some of the over-posed and over-proped ones on the market . Sarah was so diligent in finding out what was important to us prior to the shoot to tailor our photos. The shoot itself was such an amazing experience to have with our baby. Sarah was amazing with our 5 week old, very gentle and caring and very reassuring and encouraging toward me and my partner who are both not 100% comfortable in front of a camera! We can’t thank Sarah enough, the pictures are so beautiful and capture our little family perfectly.”

Kate, newborn photography client from Wantage, Oxfordshire

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If you’re interested in newborn portraits or family photography in 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 Young Families Portrait Photographer of the Year 2022 and Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).