I love Fresh 48 photo sessions, especially when I also photograph your little one at home a short while later. It’s SO fascinating to see how much they change in such a short amount of time. Fresh 48 sessions are typically done at the hospital, (but can also be done at home too) and this one was at Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago. The views at Prentice are unbeatable as far as hospitals go so they make for some beautiful photos! This sweet little guy was born in the middle of winter so the twinkling holiday lights & decorations were still out. It was a cloudy day so the lights were popping. I photograph details like these because these little things are telling the story of your big moments, and are often the things that are most forgotten in the chaos of those first few days with your newborn. If you’ve been here a while, you know I’m a details girl! Check out those little baby piggy toes below. And if you’re a Badger girl like me, just look past the Ohio State swaddle blanket ;) Stay tuned to see Mr. J at home for his lifestyle newborn session and see just how much he changed in a matter of weeks!

It’s been almost exactly one year since I set foot into a hospital for a Fresh 48 newborn session and it was so good to be back. My friend Lauren had her pandemic baby at Prentice Women’s Hospital here in Chicago on one of the coldest days of the year so far and I was honored to be her one and only guest, aside from her husband!

What’s a Fresh 48 session?

A photo session that takes place within 2 days of baby being born (3 if it’s a c-section baby), usually wherever baby was born. (I’ve only ever done them in hospitals but in a post-covid world I’m dying to photograph a home birth!) Oftentimes I’ll photograph a Fresh 48 and then do an in-home session a few weeks later & it’s fascinating to see how much baby changes in just a few short weeks! After graduating with my photography degree, back when I lived in Madison, I worked as a newborn photographer for a few years at Meriter Hospital, with Susan of Serendipity Photo Studio, and my dear friend Jamie. It’s where I fell in love with Fresh 48 sessions, even though I’m not sure they were actually called that back in the day!

World, meet Miss Emory! This little peach arrived at almost 10 pounds!! I’m so obsessed with her cheeeeeeeeeks! Congrats, H family! Thank you for having me :)

Dad sits in windowsill at Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago, IL, holding his newborn daughter and kissing her on her nose..

Mom and dad look at their newborn baby girl during her Fresh 48 newborn hospital session at Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago, IL.

Mom holds newborn baby girl while sitting in the windowsill at Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago during their Fresh 48 newborn hospital session.

Newborn baby girl in a cactus swaddle blanket and a cream headband around her head during her Fresh 48 hospital newborn session at Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago, IL.

I love photographing at Prentice because of those city views! My only dilemma was that winter is wreaking havoc on the windows there and the spots & splotches drive me crazy when they’re on full display with the sunshine. But, I felt safe inside and all of the protocols were in place. I wore two masks while photographing this sweet baby & sanitized, sanitized, sanitized.