Tag Archives: Motherhood

I’ve changed my mind about baby photoshoots

When I was booking my bed in the hospital, what feels like a lifetime ago, I was offered the option of having a newborn shoot done right in the ward. It was an opportunity to capture the baby’s earliest moments, and I politely declined. I’m still so glad that I did, because the pictures of Harley in the NICU make me so sad even though she is fine now. However, at the time when I declined, I had no idea I’d have a preemie, but I still didn’t want pictures of her then – I thought all babies had a face like a foot when they’re born and I didn’t want the typical clichéd photoshoot with her. I still don’t want the cliché, but I’ve changed my view of photoshoots in general.

Over on Tums 2 Tots, I wrote about the wonderful experience that I got to have with Salomé from Yellow Lab. She did an amazing photoshoot with me and Harley, and we had such a great time doing it. It was relaxed and fun, and I never once felt awkward about needing to feed the little princess or change her nappy. Instead of constantly apologizing for Harley being a baby, it felt welcomed and normal, which meant that I could breathe and just enjoy the experience. But even more than the fun experience, the final product has completely changed my opinion of baby photoshoots. Continue Reading

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What I love about my 5 month old

Harley is now five months old. It’s hard to believe that five months ago, Harley entered this world and I became a mom. It still makes me so sad to think about how it happened – it was so traumatic, not just for me and for her, but for everyone who loves us and was so worried about us. Having my mom here, I realize just how hard it was for her, too. But also, I see how much my life has changed, how happy I am in new ways, and how amazing it is to watch this little life grow up before my eyes.

Every day, Harley seems to master a new skill. From one day to the next, she’ll go from showing no interest in her toy to all of a sudden being enthralled by the look and sound of it. She has discovered her hands, and thanks to starting teething she loves shoving them in her mouth. She loves to smile, often giving me a huge grin when I take her out of her cot in the morning, or pausing from nursing in order to smile up at me. I’m no longer wondering if she knows who I am or likes me – those huge grins are proof enough that we are both madly in love with each other. Continue Reading

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Warning: erratic blogging ahead

I have prided myself on something since starting this little space on the internet. While occasionally I’ve blogged later than planned, since I’ve started I’ve only really “missed” days of blogging while in hospital or when I was far too sleep deprived to string a sentence together. Otherwise, every day of the week, I’ve posted a new blog filled with musings, news or whatever else. Not so for the past two days, and it makes me wonder how many more days of blogging I’ll miss in the coming couple weeks.

You see, my mom has arrived from the states. She’s here for the about 3 weeks, taking the opportunity to bond with little Harley and get to know the munchkin, as well as for us to obviously visit and spend our time together. While we aren’t busy with touristy stuff or anything, the day does seem to flow differently with her around. Then again, today we went to get our nails done, so that was rather different from how I normally spend my Thursdays. Yes, I took leave for today and tomorrow. Continue Reading

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The moment it was all worth it

Maybe it was the postpartum depression, but I didn’t have that feeling of falling madly in love with Harley from the moment she was born. I loved her, but it was really hard in the beginning because I was so sick and she was in the NICU. Then we got her home and she was really difficult and it was a huge adjustment. But things have been getting easier with her, and she’s starting to show her personality, which is just such fun. Yesterday was a really hard day with her, and yet it was the day I finally had that feeling of being overwhelmed with love for her.

For those who follow the Wonder Weeks, Harley was in a leap week. She still sorta is, but yesterday was the worst of it – she was uncomfortable and upset and just seemed to cry the whole day. I had a lunch meeting, and normally I’d take her along with me, but I knew she would just scream and be a distraction and I needed to be at the top of my game. So I left her with her granny, and I felt horrible for doing so. Oh the joys of motherhood – so much guilt no matter what I do. Continue Reading

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The perils of the vaccine debate

Last week, Harley finished off her first batch of vaccines. She is sorted until she is nine months old, when she gets the next round, but at least now she is protected against polio, TB, diphtheria and hepatitis. She only had one bad day following her inoculations, one time when she came down with a fever and generally felt miserable. One poorly day compared to the risks of diphtheria? Sounds like I’ve come out ahead!

Harley’s next vaccine includes her chicken pox shot. I have vague memories about there being some issue with that one – something I heard when I was a teenager or something about kids who got that vaccine as babies ended up contracting chicken pox as adults when it was far more dangerous. I wanted to read up on this to see if it was just the dawn of anti-vaxxer stuff back then or a real concern, but thanks to all the anti-vaxxer sites out there, I can’t trust anyone who claims to be a source. I like to think of myself as informed about medical things, especially for my little one, but here it’s become pretty much impossible to read up on things without taking everything with a grain of salt (which isn’t a bad way to take all things read online anyway). Continue Reading

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