Yet again, I meant to get this post up 3 days ago and that didn’t happen, haha! I’m officially taking all of the pressure off of myself to get consistent blogs posts up, as holly molly newborn babies keep you BUSY and TIRED!!!
Last week, I shared Edwin’s birth story which was probably the most personal and emotional blog post I’ve ever shared. I received soooo many amazing comments over on my Instagram that had me tearing up over and over. Many women commented on how brave I was for being so honest and thanked me for doing so, but honestly, I just felt it important to share my truth. I never expected to be met with such warmth and it filled my heart. I felt such a strong sense of community too, when so many mothers shared that they felt the same way I did during pregnancy or struggled mentally postpartum. I feel like I’ve unintentionally created this incredible family full of moms by being raw with my journey and I could not be happier about it. I’m definitely going to keep sharing as long as you all want to keep reading and sharing with me too!
Now on to these photos! I don’t have nearly as much to say as I did in Edwin’s birth story as I shared every.little.detail there, but I REALLY wanted to share these pictures nonetheless. Candace, our birth photographer, was a champ in her own right when it came to capturing our birth story. She stayed at the hospital for hours while I was in labour, shot photos immediately after Edwin’s birth around 6am, went home, and then came back a few hours later to capture our first (well, second) official family photos.
These photos were taken after we had a chance to rest (though, we didn’t actually sleep) and shower in our hospital room. I’m not quite sure how Candace managed to make our tiny hospital room look so light and airy but dang, she did such a great job! I just love how calm and serene these photos are. I am simply in love with the shots of Edwin and I and our family of 3 photos, but I particularly LOVE the photos Candace captured of Jamie and Edwin…my heart just melts! I also can’t believe how alert and open his eyes are in some of the photos just hours after entering the world. These are definitely more photos that I will treasure for the rest of my life.
Now, onto Edwin’s 3-week update. Edwin Fox turned 3 weeks old on Tuesday and I literally can’t believe that in just 3 short days, he will be 1 month old…time truly does fly! Our little guy has been so amazing and I can see such a difference in him in just the few short weeks that he’s been with us. For the first couple of weeks, Edwin slept a lot and barely cried. He let anyone hold him and everyone who did could not get over how content he was. Edwin has also been an amazing eater! As I mentioned in our birth story, he latched on immediately and to be honest, he hasn’t really left my boobs since! I am sooooo thrilled that our nursing journey has been such a positive one so far, and I hope that it keeps up this way. Edwin now weighs 10 pounds, 4oz which is incredible to me since his birth weight was 8 pounds, 2oz and he dipped down to 7 pounds 8oz after we brought him home. The kid likes to eat!
While everything with our little love has been mostly positive and we are soooooo in love, the last I’d say 5 days have been a bit more of a struggle with the crying and gas. I read that colic can start around 3 weeks of age and so I am terrified that is the road we’re headed down but we are trying to be proactive. There is a lot of debate as to whether certain foods a mother eats can affect breast milk, therefore causing gassiness. I’m not 100% sure where I stand on that yet but for now I’ve decided to significantly reduce my intake of onions and garlic and cut out dairy to see if that helps. I’ve also been feeding Edwin in more of an upright position and elevated him in his basinet with a folded blanket under the mattress to help with reflux. He’s been better the last couple of days than he’s been but we will see how things progress in the following weeks. I’ll be sure to keep you updated. Other than that, Edwin still sleeps lots and while he awake we try to stimulate him with tummy time, black and white cards from his Love Every play gym, singing lullabies and I’ve just started reading to him.
A special thanks to Candace Berry Photography for capturing these photos
