I haven’t posted these pictures because I just didn’t know what to write. Katie and I had the opportunity to capture some pictures of this precious baby boy about an hour after he was removed from life support at Primary Children’s hospital. We were both feeling very scared…..how were we going to take this sweet baby from his parents arms so we could take some pictures of him, when they should be enjoying every second that they can with him? But we walked into the room, his parents put on a brave face and made us feel so at ease. So we got to work, positioning him gently, putting adorable hats on him, with everyone in the room watching quietly. Tears of sadness, tears of love. His grandparents, aunts and uncles there, watching and waiting. The feeling in the room is hard to describe.
And all the while they kept checking his breathing. It was heartbreaking. But we were there to capture as much as we could, knowing how much the pictures will mean to his mom and dad….forever. He was so perfect, it was hard to imagine that there was anything wrong with him.
It was late at night when we left, it was so cold outside and driving away from the hospital knowing how much people in those rooms are going through, we were incredibly sad for every family in there. But we were also honored that we were able to do this for them.
Benjamin passed away 3 days later. He had a very rare syndrome that the hospital has only seen 5 times in the last 20 years. They didn’t know he had it until he was born. Please say some prayers for his parents. He was their first baby.
I only had time to edit the feeding tube out of a few pictures. Katie has some with his mom and dad, she will be posting too when she gets back to town. She got some with Benjamin and his dad.
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What a sweet little baby. His parents will cherish these beautiful pictures forever. I can’t imagine how they feel. I will keep them in my thoughts and prayers.
So sorry for their loss. Beautiful pictures. Heartbreaking and will keep family in our prayers.
What a perfect, beautiful baby boy. His parents I know are so thankful for these, but I also know that you will also get blessings for doing this for them. May God bless them with peace and comfort through this very hard time in their lives.
My heart is breaking for all those who love him….he is beautiful beyond words. I can’t even begin to imagine how much his mum and dad will treasure these photos….for the rest of their lives. You are a very special person, Skye.
what an amazing gift you have given them they will now be able to see him and how perfect he was everyday
Oh Benjamin you beautiful little button. So so sorry Mum & Dad I hope you are both surrounded by lots of loving people and have loads of support from family and friends, my heart really does ache for you.
Benjamin is a beautiful baby boy. I am truly sorry for your loss. No parent should have to experience that pain. Your family will be in my thoughts.
he’s so so beautiful. our thoughts & prayers are with this special family. what a gift you’ve given them.
Beautiful and heartbreaking.
Beautiful baby and mother – memories which will last forever.
x
You are one tough cookie. These pictures are sooo bittersweet. And soooo very beautiful. You certainly captured his sweet little soul…his parents will be forever thankful.
There is something special about being a photographer! It’s more than ‘just taking pictures’, it’s makes moments and memories that will last forever! I am a fan of yours on Facebook and a fellow photographer in Alabama. As a mother, I can not imagine what this family is going through… so many prayers being sent their way. Amazing pictures, you have given this family an amazing gift!
He is just beautiful, I don’t know what more to say I am so sorry for their loss. Keeping his parents in my prayers
oh, he’s adorable! how wonderful that they thought to have these pictures done- they will cherish these in the years to come!
I am heartbroken for this sweet family. What a beautiful gift you have given them Skye for we all live forever in portraits. May they find peace knowing their baby is in the arms of our heavenly father.
Beautiful Beautiful photos. The parents will love these forever. What a wonderful and beautiful way to keep the memory of their sweet little Benjamin alive.
Wow! What a beautiful little boy! The pics are wonderful as always Skye, I’m so happy that the family will have them to cherish always. I’m so sorry for their loss. He is safe in the arms of Jesus…
can only imagine how hard that must have been….but the photos are beautiful and his parents will definitely be glad to have them. so gorgeous. excellent work!
What a sweet little guy. The pics with his beautiful mommy are just precious. Thoughts and prayers for his family.
Benjamin is just beautiful. These sweet photos will help them remember the promises of forever families. I just love the one of Benjamin and his mommy.
So sweet, Skye. These are beautiful pictures.
Randy and Kristen- hearing this news was completely heart breaking. I hope that you feel even the tiniest bit of peace from all of our prayers. Love you!
“The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning we have reason to rejoice as they are delivered from evil, and we shall soon have them again.” – Joseph Smith
Dear parents, what a beautiful little angel! I am so sorry for your loss. May the lord be beside you through this grieving process. May your hearts heal and you find comfort in the love of the savior. May you find joy in the knowledge that what was once lost will be yours again when this life is over. In my prayers.
What a beautiful little spirit he is.
Oh Skye, these photos are absolutely gorgeous. I am saying a prayer for Benjamin’s sweet family.
What a beautiful precious baby! Skye you did an amazing job with the photos, and I have no doubt that Benjamins parents will cherish them for a lifetime. My heart hurts for that family, but I also am in full admiration for their strength. My thoughts are with them <3
These are beautiful and you can tell how strong the parents are just by the picture of the mother with her son……..I can’t even imagine–my heart is breaking. You both did such a wonderful job and they will cherish these.
He’s precious! I am so sorry for your loss! My thoughts and prayers are with you. As always, Skye, you did an amazing job! ::)
These are just heart-wrenchingly beautiful photographs. His family will treasure these forever.
Did you do this as part of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep or on your own? When I went to the training for that we were totally forbidden from ever sharing the pictures from remembrance sessions for the privacy of the families. (So I’m shocked to see these!) That’s amazing that Ben’s family was willing to share these moments with us. He is a handsome little guy and they will always be able to treasure this time they had him with their family on Earth!
These are so sweet… and precious.. heartbreaking for the family. hugs****
this sweet mommy is a good friend of mine. she posted these pictures on her fb page and they are the sweetest thing i have ever seen. you did such a great job capturing cute little ben & his sweet parents. something they will for sure, always cherish!
Thank you so much for sharing Skye. These pictures are absolutely beautiful and I’m so glad you had the opportunity to take them for the family. What a sweet, sweet spirit accompanies these images. My prayers are with his parents and loved ones!
I am at a loss for words. These photos are beautiful and more than priceless. The gift you have given this family is beyond words. My heart aches for their loss, I can not even imagine how difficult…will keep them in my prayers. Thanks for sharing with us.
My heart is aching reading this. Skye, you gave this family a gift they will treasure forever. Benjamin is a beautiful baby. His little lips and pudgy cheeks are so cute. His parents are so strong to do this. I am amazed.
May you feel the peace of Christ throughout this time of ache, loss and pain. The peace of God exceeds all understanding.
Such a heartbreaking experience, but so so special too. I hope his wonderful parents are feeling the love and support around them. Very strong people they are.
What a handsome little boy. What a gift it will be for the parents to have these pictures. Read this makes you realize that every moment counts. Every. Single. One.
These are the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen and felt. What an amazing job you ladies have. I can’t imagine the strength of all that were involved. Thank you for sharing this story. It really helps us realize how much we have to be grateful for. Especially eternal families and the fact that this family will one day be reunited with this perfect Spirit. I’m so grateful that Benjamin’s parents were able to spend a few precious days with their beautiful baby. May God be with them till they are able to hold him in their arms again.
Oh Skye. What a perfect sweet tiny babe. These are such priceless memories. My heart breaks for his parents.
Everyone thank you so much for your sweet comments, I hope it helps Kristen and Randy in some small way, they must be missing him so much.
Emily, they actually wanted to bring him down to Katie’s studio to get some pictures of him, but then things got worse for him so they wanted her to come to the hospital and she asked me to go help her. We aren’t part of any organization. And Kristen wanted to share their sweet Benjamin’s story, he is such a special baby boy and has touched everyone.
Oh Skye you did an amazing job. What a great memory for these brave parents – you have captured an amazing time for them. Thanks for sharing the pictures and a little of the story!!! My heart aches for his parents, hugs from Canada….
My heart is breaking for this family. I can’t even imagine and will cuddling with my boys extra long this evening. What a perfect duo they picked to do their precious baby’s photos. Lots of prayers for this sweet family.
Oh, I am so sorry to hear of your loss! These pictures are beautiful of him!
I’m not even sure what to say… My thoughts and prayers are with this sweet family. I hope that they will find some type of comfort and peace. My heart aches for them.
I have been following your work, Skye, for quite some time and am always so touched by your images. This session in particular touches me as it hits close to home with me. 7 weeks ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy we named Liam. He passed away 28 hours later. My heart aches a little more each time I hear of someone else losing their child. I am so sorry for their loss, and send many prayers to them at this time. What a blessing for them to have these beautiful images to remember their sweet angel by. I know my angel baby is watching over me just as their sweet angel is them. I’m not sure who said this, but a friend of mine sent this qoute to me shortly after losing my son….”When someone we love is in heaven, a little piece of heaven is in our home.” May peace and love be with this family. My heart breaks with theirs.
This is so sweet and so amazing that you were able to be a part of this precious baby’s life for the few moments he had here on earth. It amazes me the spirit that children have and especially how special the ones are that Heavenly Father sends down to receive a body and return home perfectly to him to continue their work and bless the lives of their parents and secure a place for them in Heaven. I am crying! I needed this today.. thanks for sharing and allowing us to all remember how special and precious our lil ones are and the value of life.
What sweet and priceless pictures that they will cherish forever! He looks so perfect and peaceful. Beautiful job Skye! prayers for their family.
This baby boy is so precious and beautiful! These photos captured a moment that will be cherished forever! Kristen and Randy, I’m very sorry for your loss and hope you find comfort during this difficult time.
What a sweet, beautiful boy. My prayers and thoughts are with his family. I know that they will cherish these pictures forever.
He is absolutely precious! I will be praying for this family…I am so sad for them.
I know the extended family of sweet Benjamin. I have heard them speak of the joy and the example he was to them in his short life. He is beyond beautiful. I’m sure these images will be treasured forever.
That is very, very sweet. I’m glad you were able to help them and go to the hospital! What you did is exactly what Now I Lay me Down to Sleep does, I’ve have a few clients whom are parents to angel babies, and a couple of friends as well. NILMDTS was able to step in for them to take portraits at the hospital for most of them, and I volunteer with them now. They provide free newborn portraits for families in the hospital. Their link is: http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/ if anybody wanted to look them up.
Benjamin is so beautiful. You did a good, good thing!
Thanks for sharing this post! Amazing job Skye! I know photographing such a moment will stay with you forever just as these images will be cherished for a lifetime for these parents.
You did an amazing job Skye. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Keeping the family in my prayers.
Skye my heart is breaking for this family and for this beautiful baby boy. My prayers are with them. What a wonderful gift you were able to give them, these photos are so beautiful and I know they will be cherished forever!
I am so heartbroken for this sweet family. What a beautiful little baby boy. The pictures just make me sob, they are so perfect. Good job Skye! This family is in my thoughts and prayers.
Beautiful pictures of a sweet angel. A friend of mine lost a baby right after she was born. She cherishes the pictures that their friend/photographer came to the hospital to take and they are all around her house to remind her of her sweet angel. My heart goes out to this family.
As a mom who has gone through this, I relate to their pain and can tell you that you have no idea what these photos mean to them. They are beautiful beyond words. Benjamin is absolutely beautiful and you did a spectacular job of capturing that. So wonderful of you to do this for them, I know it means the world to them.
Skye, these pictures are so sweet. What a touching experience that must have been for you & Katie. My heart is broken for his parents. I know that they will find so much comfort in the beautiful pictures that you took.
Dear Sweet Benjamin’s Parents – May our Father in Heaven be very near you at this time and blessings of peace and comfort be with you. What a Beautiful Beautiful darling boy. Our sincerest condolences. We will be praying for you.
I was bawling as I was looking at these pictures. what an amazing and beautiful baby boy, and momma. I’m so sorry that they had to go through something like this.
He is beautiful. The pics are amazing. You truly have a gift- you comfort people through your pictures. His parents will treasure these forever!
What incredibly beautiful pictures of an absolute angel baby boy- my heart goes out to his mummy and daddy. What amazing memories these photos are though, gorgeous photography.
Skye these photos are simply beautiful. You did such an amazing job and I am sure this family will enjoy these memories forever of their Heavenly Prince. My prayers are with them. Thank you for sharing these with the world.
What a beautiful little boy. These photos are truly a treasure. My heart is breaking for them and my prayers are with their family. I am really glad you and Katie were able to capture these cherished moments for them.
What beautiful pictures of such a precious baby boy. Praying for God’s peace and comfort over this family in their time of loss.
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” II Corinthians 1:3
I can’t even imagine their heartache. What a perfect little angel he is. An angel amoungst us for only a little while, and gone too soon. My heart breaks so much for this family. I have kept them in my prayers ever since you posted this. I hope they are surrounded by immense love at this time. I am thankful that they have shared his pictures with us all.
These pictures are just AMAZING!! Such a beautiful gift you gave them to have forever.
What priceless pictures of such a BEAUTIFUL little boy!! I could barely see the pictures through my tears. Skye you really captured his sweet little spirit and the pictures are amazing. He truly looks like a little angel and my heart just breaks for his family. I will be praying for them.
Skye fantastic job as always, I can’t imagine how you and Katie did it. To Benjamin’s dear family, thank you for sharing your little angel with us. You helped me to feel the Spirit today and to remind me of what is really important in life. May peace and comfort be with now and always until that special day when you can be with your little angel again.
What a beautiful baby boy. What a heart wrenching thing to do.. however I know that they will always treasure these photographs that you took for them. Well done!
What a beautiful little boy. So sad, but what a treasure that Mum & Dad got to spend time with him. Gorgeous photographs to remember him by.
Skye, you did a beautiful job photographing Benjamin. I love the pictures of him and his mama. These photos will be forever cherished by his family. To the Family, my heart aches for you. Sending you many prayers to get through this difficult time and the road that lies ahead. Benjamin is gorgeous and everytime I see a butterfly, I will think of Sweet Benjamin…flying freely with my own two babes.
Wow……….what a beautiful idea to have the photos taken in such short time. They are touching. As a parent, I cannot even imagine what this family must be going through… My they find comfort, even for a small moment during one day, to get them through this. What brave parents.
what a beautiful job you did… what a beautiful family, this post brought me to tears.
crying…..my eyes out. You captured this perfectly! What a blessing you all are to this family. Just beautiful.
This post has me in tears. How beautiful!
I BAWLED as I looked at these pictures. What a sweet sweet baby boy!
Oh my goodness, what a heartbreak that family is going through, but also what a gift that they got to spend even just a few days with their adorable son. I know that they will cherish these pictures forever:)
I am so choked up over this post but it makes me smile all at the same time. What amazing pictures they have to look back on forever! I just had my first child (son) only 4 months ago, and i cannot even imagine tha pain they are going through. My thoughts and prayers are with this amazing family and even more amazing parents. What an incredible post.
Amazing and so heartfelt, what a precious gift you gave each other and that you are able to share with us. Such a beautiful little guy, these photos will mean so much to the family. Thank you Skye and the family for sharing. Prayers and thoughts are with you…
My heart is breaking right now! What a sweet little baby! I can’t imagine going through that and then not having the baby to take home. All our love and prayers to Benjamin’s family!
I came across this blog from one a message board I frequent. This post brought tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat. The photos are the most beautiful I have ever seen. What a heartbreaking experience this family had to go through. They will cherish these for the rest of their lives. You were able to capture memories that will never fade.
These are beautiful, Skye, just perfect and beautiful. Bless that momma and family.
Breathe taking. This was so beautiful. One of the most beautiful shots I have ever seen.
my heart is broken for these parents. what a gift to have these photos of this precious little one.
This is Kristen’s (the mom) sister, Emily. Skye, you did an amazing job recounting this experience. Thank you for your gentleness, compassion and talent during this time. My mom, sister and I read this post together and just bawled like babies. Kristen has been remarkably strong throughout this experience, but we were just so touched by your words and pictures. We are so glad to have this experience recorded so well and to be able to share it with so many people. Ben’s spirit was remarkable and the more people who can be touched by the Spirit from his story, the better. Words cannot express the gratitude our family has for what you and Katie have done. You will be blessed for your service! Thank you again!
I am so grateful to you for what you did for my sister and her sweet little Ben. I cannot tell you how much these pictures mean to her! I do bawl everytime I see them though. He had such a spirit about him that he could teach just through being here on this earth for such a short time. It was humbling to sit there and hold him and watch him hang on for just a little longer than expected. We are so grateful to have had him in our family even if it was for just a short time. Thank you is not enough for what you and Katie did for them!
What a blessing that you were able to take these photos. They are beautiful and little Ben is just gorgeous. As parents who loss our first baby just weeks after he was born (to an unseen and rare disorder), I know what a treasure these will be.
Kelsey that is so heartbreaking, I’m sure you can relate with this couple more than most people can. Emily you helped us so so much and it was because of all your phone calls and texts that we were able to make it up there. You made it happen. Tiffany thank you so much, my heart still breaks for them, I think it will for a long long time. It was just so hard to actually be there and see what was happening.
Thank you so much everyone for all your sweet comments, I hope it’s a place that Kristen can come to read the sweet things written about her precious baby boy. Thanks for all of your support and comments.
My thoughts and prayers are with this family. It’s great that you were able to capture these sweet memories for them to cherish forever. Rest in Peace Benjamin.
Oh my goodness, I am balling. These images are beautiful. So great that the sweet parents have these.
Dear Skye, I do this kind of work on a volunteer basis for my local hospital, and I know how hard and devastating it is, but you have given the family an amazing gift they will always cherish and that will help them through the journey ahead. I am proud of you for doing this, God bless you.
This hits so close to my heart, as our family went through something similar not too long ago. what an amazing thing you have done for this family. They will cherish it always. The photos are amazing.
I pray for Benjamin’s parents and family – such a beautiful baby boy. What a sad, sad post to read and it brought with it some major tears. What an honor to be able to capture those photos as a memory for the family.