We are surrounded by images on social media – often filtered, carefully staged photographs which can make us feel perfection is required at all times. As you adjust to parenthood, you might not feel you want a record of your bleary-eyed moments.
Simply getting dressed might feel like a real achievement, so the thought of taking photos might be the last thing on your mind.
However, in the future these photos of the first days might help you see how far you have come. Your tired eyes and ruffled hair will remind you of the days when you thought you had worked it out, but then a sleepless night caused a moment of doubt.
You'll remember the moments when it felt hard and tiring, but also the moments when you began to feel you knew what to do.
When your baby is older, they will delight in seeing just how tiny they were, and they will see how much you loved them from the start. They won’t notice that you weren’t Instagram-ready; they will know you were there with them, responding to their needs and perhaps losing a few hours' sleep along the way.
So even if the photos from the early days never go anywhere other than your camera roll, be in the photo, and use it to help you remember the mixture of emotions you experienced as you transitioned into parenthood.