I arrived at this session to find Shelbey nursing her newborn while standing in the living room between her toddler in a diaper eating a corn dog on the couch (photographed, though not included here), her five-year-old sporting her newest garden gloves, asking to plant her seeds in the backyard, and her son unsure of what to think of my presence just yet.

She plopped the baby into her husband’s arms while she tackled her toddler’s hair, all while directing or answering questions from her other two children (the first photograph).

Through the time we were together, I watched Shelbey tend to the unique needs of each of her children, making sure they felt seen and loved by her amidst the throes of the all-consuming nature of early postpartum. I watched as she soaked in her baby's features, witnessing a mother who knows just how quickly things change - determined to ingrain it all in her memory.

As I was getting ready to leave at the end of the session, Shelbey sat down at the table with her new baby and a bowl of soup, the rest of the family existing in their own little worlds around the house.

And then, one by one, they each came and sat around her. There she was, the center of their universe. A mother, deeply needed and deeply loved, right in the thick of it all. (The last photograph)