The radiant Risa Schmucker Degroff with her daughters Riley (11), Eliott "Lily" (5) and Harper (3). Risa is also mother to Peyton, who would be 12 but passed away just after birth. Her first pregnancy was going well but she went into labor at 25 weeks due to a placental abruption. She delivered 80-90% of her placental before her son came out and he ultimately had to be delivered via emergency cesarean with a T incision. He lived for 6 hours before passing away. She refused an autopsy so they aren't entirely certain but assume that his trachea and esophagus may have been fused as the attempts to revive him wouldn't work. Because she had a T incision, any future births had to be delivered surgically as well. Her daughter Riley was delivered just under 35 weeks after an amniocentesis, tiny but perfect. She had an ectopic pregnancy prior to Lily. Everything was perfect with Lily's pregnancy other than being tired and sick. She went into labor at 30 weeks but they were able to stop it. Lily was delivered at 37 weeks without complication. Risa tried for about a year to conceive Harper and just couldn't get pregnant. She was convinced that it was her job standing in the way of things and it just so happened that the night she quit her job, she conceived her daughter. Her pregnancy with Harper was great. No preterm labor no early contractions. She had planned to get her tubes tied but was regretting it, until she was on the operating table and learned that her uterus was so thin they could see Harper's hair through it. Had she gone into labor she could have lost her. Risa had only been able to nurse her older daughters until they were 6-8 weeks old and she returned to work but was able to nurse and baby wear her youngest until she was 20 months. Risa says that sometime she feels like a chef and a maid and taxi driver and has lost sight of herself. She values this project and these photos because it allows her to look at the most beautiful parts of being a mother, the parts we sometimes forget.