A lifetime of pictures in a moment. That's how one family describes the photographs they were given by Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, a national non-profit that takes pictures for parents experiencing the loss of a baby. One of the volunteer coordinators in Waukesha has been noticing fewer calls have been coming in from families and wants people to know they are here, ready to offer this free service during a difficult time.
“It is the only thing we have here with us of her,” said Casandra Henningfeld looking at the photo of her baby daughter Elsie.
Elsie only lived for a few hours when she was born in March of 2022.
“It is a one-day opportunity to get a lifetime full of pictures for our daughter that we weren't going to get to see raised,: said Kyle Henningfeld, Elsie’s father.
Elsie was born with a rare heart condition and the Henningfelds knew she was not going to live long after birth. Casandra said she got that news early in the pregnancy and at first she thought she would want to forget.
"In the beginning, I didn't think I wanted to remember it. I wanted to kind of put it in the back of mind. But the day we were in the hospital I knew that this was it. We wanted as much time with our girl as we could get and these pictures give us more time,” said Casandra.
Their labor and delivery nurses called the local non-profit to come and take photographs for the family.
“Now I Lay Me Down to sleep is available to any family that wants remembrance portraits free of charge,” said Kara Krause.
Krause is a Waukesha photographer who runs her own studio but also volunteers for the non-profit as their area coordinator. She says over the past two years she has been getting fewer and fewer calls from hospitals and families.
“There are many more families in this area that we could serve,” said Krause.
Casandra said when she first got the photos she wasn’t sure if she would want them.
"When we took the pictures I remember thinking, if we never look at them, that's fine. But if we don't take them then I don't have the chance to look at them if I want to look at them,” said Casandra.
Now they look at them daily along with their daughter Genevieve who was only 2 when her little sister died.
"It was the worst day, but it was also a great one because it was the only day we got,” said Casandra.
Krause helps coordinate volunteers for all of southern Wisconsin. If you need a photographer to come to remember a baby you can reach out to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep here or ask your hospital to reach out for you.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
