Well hello handsome! #baby #jollyjumper (Taken with Instagram)

2 month-old Noah with an epic mustache! #baby #hipstamatic #mustache (Taken with Instagram)

My little sleeping monkey. #hipstamatic #iphoneography #baby #monkey #b&w (Taken with instagram)

Noah Lucas with his C-PAP mask on to help open his lungs up. #hipstamatic #iphoneography #baby (Taken with instagram)

@PhotoDeskLucas: Noah Lucas 7pounds 8 ounces mom @NicoleMacIntyre is doing great Noah is in NICU for little help opening his lungs up. #baby #iphoneography #hipstamatic (Taken with instagram)

Postpartum depression: Telling the truth

Having my first child was more difficult than I could have imagined

Ask any mother about her worst parenting moment and she’s sure to share some amusing anecdote about being covered in poo or not showering for weeks.

I always recall my first trip to the mommy movies when my son Will blew through two diapers before the plot thickened. Or I joke about how I spent the first six months of his life braless and with my hair pulled back in a style that my husband fondly called the ‘Nancy Kerrigan.’

Though true stories, neither comes close to being my lowest moments since becoming a mother two years ago. I, like I suspect many mothers, don’t readily share those stories.

If I’m honest, I would describe the fall day when Will was approaching seven weeks old. He’d been a challenging baby from the start and I was struggling with my new role. When he would cry for hours, often the only thing that would soothe him, beyond nursing, was strapping him to my chest and walking on the treadmill. On this day, I had already logged many miles, but nothing would silence his cries.

Another frame taken by my son Will age 22-months. #instagram #hipstamatic #iphoneography #baby #infant #photography (Taken with instagram)