This was the case for Luke and Erikah Messamer, a Georgia-based couple who recently welcomed son Liam – their precious ‘rainbow baby’.
Eighteen months previous, Erikah and Luke were looking forward to welcoming their daughter, Ailene Martina Messamer, into the world. However, while Luke was deployed in Okinawa, Japan, Erikah was told that baby ‘Ali’ would be stillborn at just over 23 weeks.
The Red Cross worked hard to get Luke home for Ali’s birth, and after 33 hours of labour, their daughter was born.
The Messamers enlisted the services of a photographer to capture every moment of their special birth journey with baby Liam, and the results are nothing short of breath-taking.
From the tension of the labour to the moment when Erikah finally gets to hold her son, these images are powerful and full of love and hope.
The couple, who agreed to share photographer Rachel Smith’s photos with the world, have described their precious son as “proof that there is life after loss”.
What a powerful story. We wish Luke, Erikah and Liam all the very best.
