Honoring Rainbow Babies: 7 Stunning Tributes to the Light after the Storm

Have you heard the term "rainbow babies" before? They're the light after a storm, precious in so many ways. Check out these touching photos that honor them!

I honestly have to say that until today I had never heard of a rainbow baby before. To my surprise, I had a rainbow baby. My son Mark was born in 1989, a year after I had suffered the loss of a stillborn baby. So, what exactly is a rainbow baby? A rainbow baby is one that is born following a miscarriage or stillbirth. Think about it in the real world sense. What happens after a storm occurs? A rainbow usually appears not long after right? The miscarriage or stillbirth is the storm and the new pregnancy is the rainbow.

Honoring Rainbow Babies Through Stunning Photography

Recently, photographer Ashley Maiso, posted the image of a pregnant woman who had a photo shoot to remember the loss of her first pregnancy just a few years earlier. Maiso said, on the Facebook page of her business, Ashley Maiso Photography, “Before this photo session, I had never heard of a rainbow baby. Bella shared her heart and filled me in on the loss of her first child a few years ago. As she gets ready to bare her second child, she wanted to honor and celebrate the life of the precious babe she had the privilege of carrying in her belly for a season.”

I did a bit more research to discover that woman from all around found different ways to honor their rainbow baby. In February of 2015, Cathy and Matt Matthews found out they were expecting their second child. They already had a son, Cameron, born in 2013. However, just a month later, they sadly lost their baby. Cathy told People Magazine, “We were really excited when we found out we got pregnant. We started telling our family right away, and then we lost the baby at five weeks. We barely had time to even digest everything – it was really heartbreaking for us.”

In May of 2015, Cathy and Matt once again learned they were expecting a baby. Cathy made a rainbow collage, documenting each month of the pregnancy. When their baby daughter, Charlotte, was born, the couple wanted to have professional portraits done of Charlotte and they also wanted to honor the baby they lost. In the portraits, Charlotte was wearing a rainbow headband.

Beautiful Photos Honoring Rainbow Babies

During my research, I found a few more gorgeous photos honoring rainbow babies, like this one that proves “after every storm, there is a rainbow of hope.”

Después de cada tormenta, sale el arcoiris After every storm, there's a rainbow of hope ❤️ #rainbowbaby #4monthsold
A photo posted by Di Roma Photography (@diromaphotography) on Aug 13, 2016 at 11:01am PDT

How about this smiling sweetie! In the caption, we learn that Aria is decked out in a onesie that mom bought for her sister, Violet, just a few weeks before she passed away. What a beautiful way for Aria to honor her sister.

Aria finally fits this cute onesie It's a special one, one that I bought for Violet a few weeks before she died
A photo posted by Elaina (@elizabethsekhmet) on Aug 13, 2016 at 7:11am PDT

How about this little sleeping prince?

My beautiful rainbow baby wearing his rainbow sleep suit @littlebirdbyjools ⭐️☀️ #rainbowbaby #rainbow #joolsoliver #littlebird #babyafterloss #miscarriage #love #newborn #colours #family #mumofboys #mumoftwo #ootd #outfit #babyfashion
A photo posted by Erica (@a_toddler_journey) on Aug 13, 2016 at 1:51am PDT

I love this baby bump photo. A simple, yet elegant way to celebrate a rainbow baby.

After every storm comes a rainbow #Daxton #rainbowbaby #blessed pic.twitter.com/v6vBXgqu4t
— Lauren Philpot (@lauren_philpot) August 13, 2016

And this pregnancy announcement photo! I couldn’t be more happy for this beautiful family.

Today we have decided to announce that we are expecting our rainbow baby. After struggling with infertility, experiencing a loss in December, and going through countless procedures and surgeries we are over the moon to be adding to our little family. We are a little over 10 weeks, have had countless ultrasounds and baby W is measuring right on track with a strong heartbeat. We would like to think all the family and friends who have been supportive and encouraging through out this process. You guys mean the world to us. #rainbow #rainbowbaby #family #infertility #miraclesdohappen
A photo posted by Liz Weemes (@razerrrevenge) on Aug 13, 2016 at 1:48am PDT

Pregnancy after loss can be staggeringly frightening, but these parents and parents-to-be have found such touching ways to celebrate the light after the storm.