I am a mother. My first major surgery was the birth of my daughter—an incision through seven layers of skin. My recovery was spent walking to and from the NICU five times a day to see my baby get poked with feeding tubes and needles, all while I was unable to hold her. A year of broken sleep, being attached to a milking machine, and hearing a handful of unsolicited advice, while my emotions were uncontrollable: "Stop breastfeeding." "Sleep train her." "Why are you co-sleeping?" Sadness, anger, guilt—this is the dark side of motherhood. 

The Fourth Trimester is a visual representation of the emotions and challenges I faced during my post-partum period. Each photo in this series documents a vulnerable time throughout my journey in motherhood and embodies intimate moments that almost broke me. Documenting my journey with photography paired with journaling through the early post-partum period was a tool for coping. While I wouldn’t change being a mom to my precious little human for the world, no one prepared me for the dark times I would experience, the raw emotions I would feel, and the many times I thought I had no one to reach out to. In this body of work, I chose the stark aesthetics of black and white photography to evoke a strong emotional intensity and draw attention to my subjects. This project became a healing journey, allowing me to embrace the idea that sharing my story is okay.