Elijah Quinn Portillo was my first baby.

He was my miracle baby.

He is the most special person that has ever existed in my life.

I have a diagnosis of PCOS and was initially told it would be hard to have a baby, if at all. When we got pregnant with Elijah, we were over the moon with excitement and shock.  And then at one of our appointments, we got the news that Elijah had a chromosomal disorder called Trisomy 18. We were told to prepare for the possibility that he might not make it to birth. We were devastated.

We chose to continue the pregnancy to term in hopes of spending time with our son.  Elijah came out, surprising us all, and spent three whole days with us. It was a whirlwind to go from expecting our first baby, our miracle, and then preparing for him to make his journey to heaven.

Baby Elijah by NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer Noritzya Vanegas

While at the hospital, we were told about Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep and their services. We quickly decided to have them come out and take photos of us with Elijah so we could remember the time we had with him.

Our NILMDTS photographer was amazing. She was so careful and showed so much care in how she took our photos. She captured all of our family members around Elijah. She captured the little details …