I’ve always had it in the back of my head that I wanted to do something with Olivia’s and Emelia’s embryo photos, but I didn’t know what. Then I found Embryo Designs on Instagram. She does watercolors of embryo photos and they’re gorgeous.
I knew this was it. This was the perfect way I could really preserve and display them. I’ve always been so amazed at these little embryos. Of seeing my babies in this state of miraculous development. Somehow, seeing them in watercolors makes them that much more breathtaking.
Olivia’s is a pink/orange color. The artist has so many color combinations to choose from, and I knew I could easily go down a rabbit hole, so I made myself decide fairly quickly. The pink is just perfect when I think of her.
Emelia, bursting out of her shell, is this mix of purples and blues, and the two embryos together just make me so happy. It’s crazy, looking at these watercolors and seeing the babies they became.
I’m so glad I have these. I’d love to do something like this for all my embryos I’ve lost in the seven IVFs we did.
These two. They were created at the same time in this lab in Houston. Olivia and her twin were the ones that apparently grew the best initially. Emelia and the other two siblings were all frozen together and they stayed that way, paused in time for four years. All six of these embryos hung out together in a petri dish and two of them grew into babies. And now they’re reunited. Science is amazing. It blows my mind. They’re back together, only now they’re sharing secrets and making each other laugh.
These photos are hanging in the hallway, so we pass by them multiple times a day. (No, this isn’t some retro wallpaper, though now that I think about it, that would look totally funky. It’s my living room rug.)
I love it. I don’t know how the idea came about to paint embryos in a mix of gorgeous watercolors, but I’m glad this was an option to really display them.
Such a beautiful reminder that embryos are only a potential ……
Your daughters are such joys.
Author
Love this. Thank you.
So cool! I totally wanna do this! With Ellie’s pictures, there would be two embryos because I don’t know which one she came from so that’s a little different but still cool.
Author
Actually both Emelia and Olivia’s were two-embryo transfers. So I don’t 100% know who was who, but I had picked who each was and just went with it.
I’ve been trying to do this! I reached out to someone but she never got back to me your paintings- and girls- are lovely
Author
Did you reach out to the woman who does Embryo Designs on Instagram? If so, and you haven’t gotten a response, she may be swamped with messages. She’s popular!
Oh my gosh, I love this! I’m always a sucker for “before and after” , but this must be the most beautiful and consequential before and after I’ve ever seen!
Author
Gah! Isn’t it though??? They are hung in the hallway so I pass them all the time and they still are fascinating to look at.
These are beautiful Risa. What a lovely tribute to your girls.
So cool!
Author
Yes! I would have never thought of this as an option.