HarryStyles: Two days ago, my family was visited by a very special guest. We didn't know that this guest would impact our lives as greatly as he did but we are so happy to have him in our lives. He did arrive three weeks early but that's ok because he is quite the gentlemen. Join me in welcoming my son, Oliver-James Gabriel Styles to the world.
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VeronicaStyles: Meet my beautiful boy, Oliver-James Gabriel Styles. We are doing very well and we are surrounded by so much love so we haven't had the time to really post much since we adjusting to a life with two children.
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These past two days have been crazy. We did not expect Oliver-James to come out as quickly as he did but we are so grateful that we had prepared everything in advance because it was a hassle. My water broke exactly a week after we saw the guys and Elle.
It was crazy since none of our families were here so we were sad because they were over twelve hours away. Luckily for us, I was in labour for twenty long hours so they were here before the little came out.
Although he did decide to come out three weeks early, he sure did take his time coming out of my vagina. He put my my body through hell for twenty six hours but when I had the first skin to skin moment, those twenty six hours of pain didn't matter since my son was here.
It was all worth it in the end.
Even more so because our families were able to fly out and be there for his first moments of life. Harry and I did settle on having a home birth in a room that we had set up for this moment and it was the magical moment ever.
We did record it but it is not something that we are willing to share as of yet.
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Something that I am grateful to my mother for is the tradition that she instilled in us. Whenever somebody new joined the family, my mum would set up a photoshoot. When my parents married in Cape Town, they had this gorgeous photoshoot out in the wilderness. A few days after I was born, my photoshoot was at the Lisbon Falls then Chad had one at Kahuzi-Biéga National Park. Which is really risky since it is the home to many gorillas but apparently they took a liking to us.
When Chloe and Halle were adopted, we had the dopest photoshoot in Japan. It's something that I am grateful for because you have all these amazing photos to look back on and it really does make you feel special.
When Alexander was born, we held a photoshoot down Portobello Market. We actually had the whole street closed down for us but luckily nobody caught onto the fact that there was a baby present. Everybody assumed that it was for a magazine. Harry and I had one during our wedding, Harmony allowed us to go to the Palomino Gardens.
Harry and I decided on going for a James Bond kind of feel, keeping it sophisticated and classy for Oliver-James' photoshoot. We are not ready to go out with our son just yet so we are having the photos taken in our home studio. We had planned the shoot months ago so we received the custom made Ralph Lauren outfits the day that Oliver-James was born. It was perfect timing.
Since I am wearing white, I have our sons wearing white suits and they look so gorgeous in them.
"When is your mum and sister getting here?" I ask Harry as I breastfeed Oliver-James.
"They're not going to be here in time for the photos." I purse my lips at him. "We can schedule the photos with for another day and just photoshop them in."
I really appreciate Anne and Gemma flying here for our sons but they weren't really prepared so they had to fly back to the UK the very next day. They were meant to be here today for the shoot but I think there flight was delayed or something.
It's slightly annoying but I can understand so I will let it slide.
Once I finish feeding Oliver-James, I adjust my clothing and I clean his mouth. While waiting on the photographer to finish adjusting the lights, I have a talk with my family about the shoot. I talk them through the poses that we will be doing as well as any adjustments that they need to make to their outfits.
The men in the family are sitting down while the women are standing behind them. We have spaced out the chairs enough so that the women's outfits can be seen.
Harry has Alexander sitting on one of his legs while I'm cradling Oliver-James to my chest. Surprisingly, Oliver-James is being pretty chill about the whole thing and he hasn't fallen asleep just yet.
"Ok, we're ready." The photographer announces and we fix ourselves up.
The photographer starts snapping away and I do some shots Oliver-James facing my chest and others where he is facing the camera. I don't want him facing the camera everytime because the lights are a tad too bright for his young eyes.
"I'm so proud of you, Alexander." I give my oldest son a kiss on the cheek. "Keep up the good work and we'll go in the pool later on."
"Ok mommy." Alexander smiles up at me and I smile back at him.
I am truly surprised to see Alexander behaving himself during the photoshoot. With his recent behaviour, I was expecting to see him running off or for him to be throwing tantrums over not having his toys.
I have Oliver-James over to my dad as we review the first batch of pictures that we have just taken. My sisters and I start marking down our favourite pictures as everyone prepares themselves for the next pictures.
This time, the females are sitting down and the males are standing up. Chad is the only one male adult still sitting down since he is paralysed and I don't want to put pressure on him. He has been making progress but I am happy to have him still sitting down since his comfort means more to me.
We all smile for the pictures and my smile gets wider as Oliver-James opens his eyes. He isn't really smiling but his face looks happy and full of life. I hand him to Harry and I take Alexander for the next few pictures.
Once we wrap up, everyone groans and starts complaining. I laugh at this but I'm also complaining since my swollen feet are not supposed to be in these heels. I also have these Spanx on which has started rolling down my stomach.
I put Oliver-James and Alexander down to nap while everybody else looks over the photos.
"How are you feeling?" Harry asks me as I begin to undress myself.
"Still a bit sore but it was all worth it, the photos look gorgeous." I smile as I take off the earrings. "You?"
"It's crazy to think that we have two sons now." He runs a hand through his hair. "I thought we would be struggling but Alexander has been on his best behaviour which makes everything so much better."
I pull Harry in for a hug.
"My heart is so full." I tell Harry as I press a light kiss to his neck. "Thank you for giving me my babies."
"I'll give you more." We both chuckle at this. "Just say when."
"Hit me up before I turn 30."