Newborn Shoot & Baby's 1 Month Update!

Zidaan is 5 weeks old today. It’s hard to believe that my little guy is over a month old already. How time flies!  To all those that reached out to me after reading my labor and delivery story, y'all are so sweet. I feel like I'm part of this new mommy sisterhood with everyone's sweet comments and experiences that I could relate to.

Anyway - I thought it would be fun to share a monthly update on how my little man has grown, my experience as a first time mom and his newborn pictures! 

I knew having a baby would totally throw my life into complete chaos. Everyone said it would, but you don’t really understand what they mean until you are there.  I'll be honest. This month has been challenging, tiring yet the most rewarding. I see this period of time as just a time that I have to survive and make sure my baby is healthy. I certainly enjoy and savor some of the sweet moments that are, admittedly, fleeting: His dainty and delicate baby hands and feet; His little squeaks and grunts; His milk breath and rosebud lips. But overall, the days and nights just blend into one long exhausting day. 

AH look at my munchkin! Everyone has different things to say when it comes to who Z looks like. He definitely has my nose, lips and chunky cheeks- the rest of him may be Ebad. 

❊ Age – One Month

❊ Weight & Height – 9 lbs 1 ounce

❊ Sleep – Newborns sleep a lot and Z is no exception!  He sleeps for anywhere from 45-90 minute clips during the day between feedings. At night he generally sleeps anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours at a time, waking up twice to feed. Some days, he’s a total catnapper throughout the day, and those tend to be the days where he winds up being a grumpster. Other days, he will stick with a really great schedule of eat/play/sleep on a three hour cycle. There's just good days and bad days.

❊ Recent Milestones – Gaining more neck strength and control! He can easily move his head from side to side and excels at tummy time. He's also getting more alert with each passing day and takes in his surroundings with his wandering eyes. The biggest milestones are his random tiny smiles that we're graced with every now and then. My heart melts every time and I wonder what it is exactly that makes him do it.

❊ Favorites Things –   He loves his Avnet Pacifiers for soothing, his Halo bassinet is a great, safe place to sleep right next to my side of the bed at night. His absolute favorite thing currently is his Newborn lounger that he chills in most of the day next to me!

❊ Mommy’s Experience – It’s been an incredible journey already!  While life is certainly quite different now with a baby (talk about a total lifestyle 180!) it feels completely natural at the same time. Yes, there have been some overwhelming moments, mainly surrounding my issues of getting used to a new lifestyle, learning to survive with 4 hours of sleep a day and the redundancy of diapers, feeding and naps. Overall, the days are getting better and I feel like we're settling into life together well. Life before Zidaan already feels like a foggy, distant memory.

So even though this month has been a challenge, the love that I have for this little guy is just indescribable. Seriously. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to express just how much I love and adore this little human being. And while there are days I wish I could just stop time, I also look forward to watching him grow and continue to develop into an adorable little boy. My little boy. Everyone has different things to say when it comes to who Z looks like. He definitely has my nose, lips and chunky cheeks- the rest of him may be Ebad. 

We had his newborn photoshoot done when he was 9 days old. Our photographer did a wonderful job! I chose to have her come to our home and take some family/lifestyle pictures along with some of just Z by himself. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day:

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My sweetcheeks was 6 lbs even here and now he's up to 9 lbs. Crazy how much they change and grow in a matter of a few weeks. As a mother, it's rewarding and humbling to see this little person grow each day because of your unconditional love and care.

AHHH I'm melting looking at my little squish. My favorite picture by far of him from this shoot was this one with his little safari friends. His nursery is Safari themed so I wanted to get a portrait we could hang in there.

My sweet king of the jungle.

These pictures were taken by Sarah Smith of Adventures in Photography Texas. Check out her work here. Not only did she take wonderful pictures that we'll cherish forever, she was so easy to work with and captured exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much, Sarah!

Thank you so much for reading! My 6 week postpartum check up is next week - I'll definitely be writing a blog about my healing experience after giving birth. Stay tuned!