On January 1, 2019, 90 Day Fiance stars Russ and Paola Mayfield welcomed their first child, precious baby Axel.
New Year’s Day will always be a special occassion for the Mayfield family. Last Thursday, they celebrated Axel’s very first birthday.
Paola Mayfield took to Instagram to shower her one-year-old son with birthday blessings alongside a photo of their family and Star Wars balloons.
"I don’t need a day to celebrate you are here!" Paola’s loving caption begins.
"Everyday is a celebration," she raves, "because you are here with us."
"You made us a family," Pao writes. "Happy first birthday little angel!"
Proud father Russ also shared a photo, this one of Russ on a growth chart at twelve months of age.
"Happy Birthday Axel!" his heartwarming caption begins. "Today we celebrate you!"
"Your first year has flown by and it has been amazing!" he praises.
Russ remarks: "Boy have you grown since I first caught you in my arms as we welcomed you into the world."
In this photo, you can see the Mayfield family on Axel’s very first Halloween.
"You’ve had many first times," Russ observes, and there are so many more to look forward to."
"You’re loved beyond measure," he affirms.
Russ continues: "And we are so proud and thankful to have you part of our life together!"
Then, Paola shared a photo of her breastfeeding baby Axel while seated on a plane.
"Boob ready for departure and baby ready for a nap!" she captioned the photo.
She also included the tag: "#normalizebreastfeeding."
One need only scroll through the replies to see how sorely needed her message about normalizing breastfeeding truly is. Some people are bonkers.
Russ also shared an Instagram retrospective of 2019 as they awaited 2020 and Axel’s first birthday.
"2019 was a big year for the Mayfield family," Russ acknowledged.
He admitted: "We had our ups and downs but through the thick and thin we came out stronger."
Russ added: "And even more reason to be one proud husband and father. ."
Axel was born just about an hour after midnight on January 1, 2019.
He was born at home after hours of intense labor and discomfort.
Paola felt that hospitals were too clinical — which is the literal entire job of a hospital — and opted for a water birth in their living room.
Fans may not all understand this choice, but we can all agree that it’s better than the vaccine hesitancy that she and Russ have expressed.
Viewers of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? observed that Paola was clearly struggling with serious postpartum issues after Axel was born.
She would balk at the idea of anyone else holding Axel — and that anyone included close family and even Russ himself. It was sad and it was nuts.
That paranoia about her baby’s safety — a case of too much of a good thing when it comes to caution — may have stemmed from her previous miscarriage.
Some fans believe that Paola’s choice to medically neglect Axel by giving him only some recommended vaccines may stem from the same issues.