Photographer shoots from deep well of experience

On July 7, 2004, Jeri Melancon, a professional portrait photographer from Gonzales, La., gave birth to twin daughters, but the Kodak moment for the first-time mother was filled with joy and sorrow.

While one of her twin girls was perfectly healthy, the other lived only 13 hours.

Melancon and her husband Chris, a member of the Marine Corps who was preparing to deploy overseas, decided to name the daughter who died Semper, which is part of the Marine Corps motto “Semper Fi” (Always Faithful).

Semper was born with sirenomelia, a rare congenital defect that restricts the blood flow of the fetus during pregnancy and results in a fused leg being formed in the middle of the body.

There was no direct indication that anything was wrong prenatally except for the fact that doctors could not get a clear ultrasound. The problem was that Semper was ingesting her mother’s amniotic fluid, and there was not enough fluid in the placenta to provide an acceptable image.

Unexpected complications

“We had no idea of this until she was born,” Melancon said. “We said, ‘Oh, she may have a little something, but they fix babies all the time.’”

Ten days later, Melancon drove her husband to the airport so that he could deploy overseas. She was buffeted by a whirlwind of emotions.

“People were telling me, ‘I don’t know how you got through that,’” Melancon said. “Looking back, you just go into overdrive and your body takes over. You live for the moment.”

Melancon, 31, had grown up around the arts. Her mother was an artist. At the age of 8, she picked up a camera and took a picture of hot air balloons, and the shot won a local photography contest.

“It was my first and only award-winning photograph,” Melancon said with a laugh.

When she got to St. Amant High School, Melancon joined the yearbook staff and was yearbook editor during her senior year. She attended LSU and at first thought about studying photography full-time, but her mother convinced her that photographers can’t make a good living, so she decided to major in business.

“Then I fell in love and got married and worked like crazy,” Melancon said.

Worked her way up

She apprenticed for a local photographer, editing her photos, shooting the occasional photo as a backup and maintaining customers’ photographs and records.

“I was pretty much the ‘wife’ of the business,” Melancon said. “I was all over the place, but I love that.”

Three years ago, Melancon decided to strike out on her own because she wanted to concentrate not on high-end shoots but on the people she knew needed good photos.

“I wanted to go back to the middle class,” Melancon said. “I have a studio in my home, and I can do location shots and I can set up at other people’s homes. I’m a little more specialized. People have my cell phone and they can call me or text me in the middle of the night. I have a large family clientele, and it’s 100 percent word of mouth. That keeps me on my toes.”

Found out on Facebook

Melancon was on Facebook one day when she read that one of her high school friends, who was pregnant, knew there was a good chance that her baby had serious defects and might live only a few hours after birth. The friend mentioned an organization, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, which is a loose network of professional photographers who offer their services to families faced with the prospect of losing a child shortly after birth.

With everything Melancon had been through, something clicked.

“It was just close to my heart,” Melancon said. “When I read that professional photographers went in at the worst moment of people’s lives and gave them a moment with their child, that was very exciting. I am the mother of an angel, and I felt I had to do this. I have the talent and I have the compassion, and I am part of the club. I know what the family is going through. Nobody can say or do anything at these moments. How great would it be to have this moment captured forever?

“I always hate to say it’s a ‘calling,’ but sometimes that phrase is a cliché and overused. But I felt it would be a disservice not to be a part of this.”

Since she began last January as the Baton Rouge area coordinator for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, Melancon has been called out six times to be with families who knew they would be losing their infants after birth. Her call-outs included the family of Regina and Kenny Heine, whose daughter Anne Grace lived for only 47 minutes after birth.

A sacred moment

Melancon was there for the moment Deacon Eddie Beckendorf baptized Anne Grace shortly after birth, and she snapped a picture that the Heines will cherish forever. Melancon turned over the photos to the Heine family, and all of her services were free.

“It’s raw and it’s real and it’s life,” Melancon said. “It shows you how precious every moment is. There is all the mumbo jumbo in the world that we live for, and that’s not what it’s all about. It stops you and shows you about cherishing and loving every moment. I tell people to love their babies and don’t take it for granted. Everybody thinks a baby is supposed to be normal and healthy, but that’s not life. It wakes me up every single time when I come home and the kids have broken a vase. At least they were here to do that. It grounds me.”

There are about 15 photographers in the Baton Rouge area who volunteer their services for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. Melancon just happened to be subbing for a New Orleans photographer when she got the call to go to East Jefferson General Hospital for the Heines’ birth.

“You cherish whatever time you’re given with your baby,” Melancon said. “I got 13 beautiful hours. Regina got 47 minutes.”

Melancon is confident in what she does and know how to do her job. The nurses and doctors trust her implicitly.

“Once you get in there, the darkness engulfs you and you focus on the baby,” Melancon said. “You look at the beauty of the little fingers and the hair. It’s like something takes over and you comfort the mom – ‘It’s OK, you can touch the baby. Hold her.’

“I don’t know how to explain it. I feel complete. I grieve for Semper privately in my own bedroom, but this is what I was meant to do. It gives us a purpose – Semper and I.”

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep can be contacted at www.nilmdts.org or toll-free at (877) 834-5667. Jeri Melancon may be contacted at [email protected]. Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at [email protected].