Get the hospital photo, or wait and have it done at a studio?

[jubilee]

The photo thread made me wonder about the photos that everyone seems to have done right at the hospital after the delivery. I'm never impressed by the ones I've seen, and from my understanding they can cost quite a bit. I do want a birth photo, but should I just wait and have it done at a studio- where we might make it a family photo too? Will I be ready to trudge out the day after delivery and get a photo done? Will I look like hell, and not want a photo of myself anyway? Or should I not get a birth photo at all, and wait for a few months? I have total memory loss about what things were like when Jacob was born...

[Momof3Labs]

We skipped the hospital photo and just took lots of pictures ourselves. I know people who went to a studio when baby was a few days old, but I sure as heck wasn't up to anything like that! And I definitely avoided the camera for those first couple of weeks - all those IV fluids (and then lack of sleep) made for a pretty scary mommy!

DH has a pretty nice camera, so we did Colin's birth announcement ourselves at 9 days old. It came out absolutely amazing - no one could believe we did it ourselves! I'd do that again in a heartbeat!

[mharling]

I just had this conversation with a friend who has had a baby. Her thought is to buy maybe one or two of the hospital picture, but not go overboard. She said she likes having the hospital picture, just for what it is, but other (and better) pictures will be abundant later on.

Mary
EDD 4/5/03

[twins r fun]

We got the hospital picture done of my twin son who came home at 2 1/2 weeks. We got the photos back before my other twin was ready to come home and once I looked at them I knew I didn't want them. My plan was to return these to the company and not get pictures taken of my other son. Of course the pictures have to be returned within 30 days and who has time to be thinking about that when you've got one new baby at home and one still at the hospital?! Anyway my advice is to skip the hospital pictures or if you do decide to get them,find out what the return policy is and try to meet it if you aren't happy with your pictures! And in my opinion they were expensive!

Nicole

[egoldber]

We got them, just to have the "hospital picture". And then my parents and my in-laws desperately wanted them! I think we got two sheets and spent around $20. I jus consider it a souvenir rather than a "real" photo. But that being siad, Sarah's weren't too bad.

HTH,

[ctsiouts]

We also spent around $20 - $25 and got 2 sheets of photos. Theyy also gave us access to the website where they uploaded all the different photos so you could see them for 60 days, you just couldn't print them. It was great for family (nobody lives here except for us) and I also got to give everyone a wallet photo as soon as they came to visit.
Yes, they are a bit ugly, but I think they are worth the $20 to have. They are a great souvenir - I now look at those pictures and think to myself 'man, those drugs must have been reeaaaaally good if I thought she was so beautiful then!' LOL

Christy

[C99]

No hospital photo here. They came around to do it when Nathaniel was in the NICU, and I didn't really want a photo of him with all those tubes in him, etc. My OB took a digital shot of him right after he was born (before the tubes went in), so that is his first photo, but we took a gazillion digital photos while he was in the hospital and have had some of them printed. One of my FIL's friends was kidding him about it -- 57 photos in 2 days?

[August Mom]

I think part of this decision will hinge on your own comfort level with taking a newborn out and about, especially to a place where there will/have been other children with germs running about. We got the hospital photo. Actually we didn't even know there would be a hospital photo and didn't know when it would be taken. The nurse simply came into the room, said "It's time for Justin's photo" and wheeled his bassinet out of our room -- no cute outfit or anything. We bought some photos and handed out wallets to the relatives. I'm glad we have the hospital photo -- it's DS's first professional photograph. :) However, it's not the best picture and really doesn't look much like DS. Now that DS is 7 months, I look back at the hospital photo and wish I had gotten another professional one taken when he was a couple of weeks old. However, at the time I wasn't comfortable taking him out. We do have hundreds of pictures from those first weeks, but somehow it's not the same to me as a professional photograph. So, my advice is to let them take the hospital photo (if you have a choice) and then see how comfortable you feel about taking your baby out for another one.

[SASM]

Does your hospital give you a free photo? My hospital sends a wallet-size photo with an order form ~ we can order a package if we want or not and just keep the wallet-size photo. That is what I am opting to do ~ just so I will have it for his baby book. We have plenty of photos from the hospital and the days following his discharge that have satisfied us ~ no need for anything formal. :-)

[parkersmama]

That's exactly how we handled it. The hospital photos of my babies certainly didn't do them justice and I didn't want a bunch of them around! ;-)

[jubilee]

Thanks for all your responses! The hospital where I will deliver (and God, I pray it will be soon) doesn't offer a freebie. The company just takes a shot or two and you can pick the sizes you want. According to friends, you can't even preview the pics. I'm not so flush with money I can just throw away $20-30 on an ugly pic, but I do want a newborn picture. I'll try to get just one wallet. Then I think I'll go with lots of home photos as you all suggested. Maybe trying to get out to a studio if I'm up to it, or maybe I'll wait a few weeks if I'm not. Thanks again!

[tnfrench]

I was worried about this too. I decided that I did want the traditional newborn photo taken, basically for his babybook and for the family (wallets only). The best advice a few people gave me about the announcements was to wait a few weeks, and THEN take his picture (by that time all of the newborn wrinklies and swelling are gone, which makes for a much cuter picture!). We took Liam's picture ourselves at 5 weeks, sent it in to alphabitsoup.com, and had absolutely gorgeous announcements that everyone loved! (Here's the pic we used:

http://members.cox.net/tnfrench/LiamVanFrenchTU2.jpg

...we took it with our digital cam).
Good luck!:D
HTH,
Tracey (happy mommy to Liam, born 11/3/02)

[mharling]

What an awesome photo!!!! Such a cutie!

I really like your idea of waiting a little bit.

Mary
EDD 4/5/03

[jubilee]

He's beautiful! You are a blessed mommy,

[tnfrench]

Thank you both! He's definitely my little angel =).