Back in my day, you had to lug around a large camera and a roll of film with you every time you wanted to take a picture.
And most photos weren't taken by accident. The cameraman would line us up and have us pose before he pressed the button (we couldn't afford to waste film).
I was lucky to have one maternity photo taken of me when I was pregnant with my first daughter.
The photo was taken a month before I gave birth. I was at my family's cottage watching my nieces and nephews swimming when my husband loaded some film in a cheap manual camera, and snapped a photo of me at the most perfect time.
I was standing on the dock where the canoes were stationed when the wood under my feet snapped and I fell flat on my bum. Right when I was falling, my husband pressed the button.
It wasn't a fancy maternity shoot that many people have today, but it's a memory that no one in my family will ever forget.
Nowadays, people can take high quality photos on their mobile phones and post it on social media platforms for everyone to see and comment.
You can go on Facebook right now and see dozens of photos taken only seconds apart from each other.
So what makes a photo truly spectacular these days? That may be a tough question to answer, but I'm sure the photo a Florida man took of his pregnant wife will amaze you.
Dan Mozer was directing his wife, Angela, to stand by the beach for a picture when something breathtaking happened...
Perfect Timing
At the exact moment he captured his wife's maternity photo, a dolphin jumped out of the water.
"Someone started yelling to us that there were dolphins, and we could see their dorsal fins," the dad-to-be told Yahoo Parenting.
Dan and Angela tried taking photos a week before, but it had started raining. So they planned to take pictures next Saturday at the Atlantic Beach, when it was nice and sunny.
The photo was just meant to be. "When I took it, I was like, oh my God! Unfortunately, [my wife] totally missed it," Dan said.
The reason why this story is so incredible is because the dolphin leaped out of the water not once, but twice!
"The dolphin actually jumped twice, but I liked the first jump picture best," Dan said. "How quickly I forget how magical a dolphin jumping out of the water is! Now I'm picking my favorite jump!"
They sent their spectacular photo to their local news channel, News4JAX, who posted the image on their Instagram page. The post so far has more than 9,000 likes and hundreds of comments.
Soon after the photo was taken, Angela gave birth to a healthy boy named Courtland Thomas.
I can't think of a more perfect maternity picture! When I showed it to my kids, they thought the image was altered somehow, and they were shocked to learn that it wasn't.
Come to think of it, dolphins symbolize rebirth and renewal. This family is truly lucky!
Now that you've seen this spectacular maternity photo, here are some more incredible photos of pregnant women and women in labor...
Woman Giving Birth In The Red Sea
An unidentified woman gave birth in the Red Sea with the help of a doctor who specializes in water births.
Someone spotted the birth from the balcony of their hotel room, and took photos. Soon after they were posted on Facebook, the images went viral.
In the photo on the right, you can see the baby being carried by the doctor, and the woman's husband holding an orange bucket. The umbilical cord of the baby is still attached!
Birthing Pool
Veronika Richardson from Wisconsin also gave birth in water, but it was done in a special pool.
In the photo above, you can see the new mother breastfeeding her baby while the umbilical cord is still attached to his or her body!
Swimming Pregnant
Melissa Benzel submitted this photo above to a maternity photo contest in Florida, where she came second.
I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable to hang a photo of me like that at home, but I admire the creativity of this photoshoot.
The female body is truly spectacular!
Grieving Widow
We've seen quite a few incredible maternity photos, but I have to say my favorite is this heartwrenching photoshopped image of a pregnant woman and the ghost of her late husband.
Michael Lamar Cousette, 27, died not too long after his wife, Naadirah Fate, got pregnant. To pay tribute to her hubby, she posted this photo below.
"God I ask that [you] heal my broken heart and ease my pain [because] the hurt I feel today is not like any pain I have ever felt!" Naadirah wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post. "Husband we are having a baby boy and he is almost here hope I see every part of you in our young king I can't wait!"
