Danielle Fishel is in the thick of new mom life, two weeks after finally bringing baby Adler home from the NICU. She opened up about how things are going so far, and let's just say her words will likely ring familiar to any parent.
Danielle and husband Jensen Karp welcomed baby Adler in June. He was born at just 35 weeks old, and he has spent most of his very short life so far in the NICU.
Now that Adler is home sweet home, it's been an adjustment, to say the least. The couple feel "like zombies," she wrote in a recent Instagram post.
"The house is a mess, I have a stye on my left eye, I haven't showered in two days," she wrote. "Jensen and I now take baby night shifts where we pass each other like zombies on a mission."
But she also says these are the "some of best days of my life."
Other moms definitely get it.
Danielle Fishel welcomed her first baby on June 24, which means the little boy has officially turned 1 month old. Danielle recently shared a glimpse into her experience of motherhood so far, and it's all too relatable for moms everywhere.
Danielle shared a photo of baby Adler's legs and feet, adorably resting on her dog, on Instagram. In the caption, she explained what life at the Danielle and Jensen Headquarters is like these days.
"The house is a mess, I have a stye on my left eye, I haven't showered in two days, I can't remember when I did anything (when did we change his diaper last? What time did I pump?)," she wrote.
Danielle even followed up with a photo of her eye patch and a bunch of pacifiers in her hand. But she says she wouldn't change a thing.
"Jensen and I now take baby night shifts where we pass each other like zombies on a mission," she wrote. "And they are some of the best days of my life. ❤️"
Other moms can very much relate to what Danielle wrote, and they filled the comments with commiseration.
"Tried liking this twice because it's so true!" one mom commented.
"Those first few weeks are such a blur. So SO hard but so wonderful," another wrote.
Some moms advised Danielle to relish in these early moments, because though they're hard, they also go by wayyy too quickly.
Also, about that stye — developing a stye after pregnancy is apparently a thing that other moms have experienced. Styes can be caused by hormonal changes and stress, both of which are definitely in abundance after giving birth.
One fellow mama gently pointed out that these don't have to be the "best days" of Danielle's life, either — it's OK for them to be hard or even crappy. Because yeah, the sleep deprivation and lack of personal time is REAL. It's a level of exhaustion that few people will have to experience outside of parenting a newborn.
But Danielle has good reason to be grateful for it all. Her baby was in the NICU for the first three weeks of his life, so in a sense, she was anxiously waiting for this part to begin.
Danielle shared the news of Adler's birth with a photo of an empty crib and a bittersweet update.
She explained that Adler had arrived four weeks before his due date and that there was fluid in his lungs.
"We still don't have Adler home with us because the deeply good doctors and nurses in the NICU are working diligently to find out why the fluid is there and determine the best way to get it out," she wrote.
"This has been the most trying week and a half of mine and Jensen's lives."
After three weeks in the NICU, Adler finally went home with his parents. Danielle wrote an emotional post to announce his "NICU graduation," thanking the dedicated staff at the Children's Hospital in LA.
And it's been sleepless nights and eye patch life ever since!
Strangely enough, Adler's due date finally passed earlier this week. The notification popped up on Danielle's phone thanks to The Bump, an app that she downloaded when she found out that she was pregnant.
Adorably, she and Jensen call the baby "Poppyseed" because that's what size he was when she first downloaded the app.
She reflected on the fact that they got some "bonus time" with Poppyseed before his due date:
"Today is Poppyseed's due date and while spending the first few weeks of his life in the NICU made us feel like so many days were stolen from us, as I sit here this morning thinking about the fact that I very well could have still been pregnant with him makes me realize how lucky we are to have had 'bonus time' with our little man," she wrote.
"I can't imagine still wondering what he looks like, smells like, sounds like. Not to mention, I'm so happy to not be pregnant anymore!! That stuff is for the birds."
Danielle also shared a photo on her Instagram story of a new customized necklace with Adler's name on it.
It's safe to say that this house is just full to the brim with love and gratitude, and it's beautiful to witness!
