The gorgeous Carrie Goodwin and Hudson Thomas (almost 3).
Carrie's pregnancy with Hudson came as quite a surprise. She was in the middle of switching from one birth control to another when she conceived Hudson unexpectedly. Carrie learned after she got pregnant, her sons father was married to another woman. She navigated her pregnancy on her own with the support of her family and carried to term. Carrie labored without medication or interventions for several hours before she started to stall. They tried an epidural and Hudson was ultimately delivered via cesarean. He was born healthy and latched right away. Carrie jokes that she tried all the ways there are to deliver a baby all in one birth.
In the days following her birth, while still in the hospital, Carrie had a friend visit who told her that Hudson's father and his wife had had a baby just the day before she had. Carrie was heartbroken and couldn't stop crying. She had dealt with anxiety in the past but this was a very new trauma. She and Hudson had been able to initiate breastfeeding without complication but from this moment forward things grew more difficult and she had to reconcile that it just wasn't going to work out for them.
Carrie and Hudson have forged an amazing bond as parent and child and while there are times it is difficult doing it all without a coparent, in those moments she tries to remind herself that she gets 100% of the sweetness and snuggles when things are great. She is so fortunate to have the support of her own father and step-mom who are there to look after Hudson while she works and when she needs a break.
Carrie's confidence as a woman and mother has grown through this journey and she hopes that her son always sees the joy, strength, and determination he's brought into her days.