When Charlotte Chatman has trouble sleeping while pregnant with her fourth child, she dreams up funny ideas for documenting her pregnancy.
"I can’t sleep so I think while I’m tossing and turning and write it down for the next day," she said.
The result is a series of photos that capture the reality, humor and excitement of pregnancy using props and a letter board.
Chatman, a mother of three from North Carolina, channeled Britney Spears and her hit song “Baby One More Time” while checking her contractions.
She and her kids have tracked the growth of their newest family member, a boy, by comparing his length in the womb to everything from a Target receipt to Amazon boxes.
Chatman, 28, started the photo series as a way to document her fourth pregnancy for friends and family across the country.
“My husband is a Navy pilot so we’ve spent pretty much every birthday, holiday, milestone away from our families -- and pictures are how we stay in touch and share everything,” she said. “After four years of doing that, you just learn to get pretty creative.”
Chatman used a letter board for the first time with this pregnancy and made it an educational and creative experience for her kids, ages 6, 2 and 1.
“As we make the letter board, they call out the letters,” she said. “All the props are stuff they make together as art projects.”
The photos are also a creative outlet for Chapman, who was a musician before becoming a full-time mom.
“I had a lot of creative outlets before I had kids but once you have kids you kind of have to change everything,” she said. “I don’t have a way to pick up hobbies so pictures have been my outlet.”
