Chelsea :: How I Became a Mother

How I Became a Mother Logo

Chelsea’s Story

I became a mother when I was 20 years old, in college, single, and living in a teeny tiny apartment.  Let me clarify – this was when I became a mother to Tucker, my precious chihuahua baby.  If you don’t consider getting your first pet as becoming a mother, then you just don’t know me.  Tucker has a middle name, a baby book, and even gets professional photographs taken.  Crazy dog lady?  I guess that’s me.

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If I was this excited to become a mom to a puppy, imagine how excited I was to become a mom to a human ten years later?

My husband Jason and I lived it up during out first few years of marriage.  We knew that we wanted children, but wanted to get our selfish ways out of our system properly.  We sold our high maintenance townhouse to move in the middle of the city, spent way too much money on fancy dinners, went to the movies and concerts almost every weekend, and pretty much did whatever we wanted.  After spending the holidays with our little nephew Landon and seeing many of our friends become parents, we felt ready.

I knew that just because you are ready doesn’t mean that it will happen quickly.  We prepared ourselves for a year of trying.  Some days we felt impatient and sad that it wasn’t happening quickly.  A little piece of advice for anyone who is trying to get pregnant :: stay away from Facebook!  When you aren’t pregnant, it feels like everyone else is.

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What I’m most proud of is that aside from some rough days, we tried to remain positive and use this time in waiting to take steps to prepare for the baby we would eventually end up with.  We didn’t do anything crazy like start buying baby clothes, but we took steps to transitioning our childless life to a less selfish one.  Both Jason and I visited our doctors to make sure we were both as healthy as could be.  We started thinking differently about our spending.  The biggest thing we did was leave our inner loop apartment for a house in the ‘burbs.  That was a leap of faith in buying a four bedroom house for just the two of us {and Tucker} away from our friends.  That was probably the first “parental decision” we made.  We traded our wants of living in the city for what would be best for our kiddos down the road – schools, space, affordability, etc.

Our leap of faith ended up working out perfectly because after just a few months of living in our new home, we learned that we were expecting!  Before you start hating me, don’t worry – not everything in our lives turned out as planned.

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I tried to enjoy pregnancy as much as I could.  I look back on it {it was just last year  – ha!} with the best memories.  I tried to embrace it all – from showers to 3D ultrasounds, childbirth classes to prenatal yoga.  We did a special gender reveal for just the two of us at our favorite Houston restaurant Frank’s, and then celebrated telling each of our four families that we were having a boy with fun blue cakes.  I struggled with feeling sick and tired, body image and being self-conscious with weight gain, but also tried to embrace it and love my bump.  I’m so happy that I chronicled the entire process on my blog through growing fruit pictures and beautiful professional pictures.

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We decided on a name at around 20 weeks – Jack Grayson.  I can admit that Jason won the great name debate with this traditional and strong name.  Trust me, my name choices were anything but traditional.  I love it though and upon meeting my son, I knew he was “just Jack.”

How did I become a mother?  I became a mother when I learned that it’s not all about me, and motherhood means sacrificing your needs and wants for your child.  I am reminded of this lesson daily ever since Jack was born.  God made sure I understood this lesson a few weeks before Jack’s due date when I was put on bed rest after a routine doctor’s visit.

I knew I was gaining a little more weight than I should, but didn’t think it was too bad.  I probably was a little more stressed and busy than I should have been, but I was working full-time trying to prepare for being out and getting everything just perfect for baby’s arrival.  I walked into a quick doctor’s appointment on my way to my office and both the nurse and doctor were in agreement that I was done working.  Because of elevated blood pressure, weight gain, bloating, and in their words “you just don’t look good” {that’s an esteem killer} – I was told to go straight home.  Strict bed rest and no sodium diet.  I took them seriously, but figured they were being a little dramatic and just trying to give this tired lady an “out” from work.  I continued to the office so I could gather up everything to work from home.  I sent out emails, carried heavy boxes out to my car, and ran a few errands on my way home.  I took it easy that weekend until my next doctors visit on Monday, but definitely wouldn’t call it bed rest.  At the next appointment things weren’t better, and I finally realized that I’m a mom now and needed to do what was best for my baby.

Actual bed rest, a new diet {yuck!}, and listening to my doctor did the trick, and both Jack and I were doing better.  Bed rest was a true sacrifice I made for my baby.  Trust me, it’s not as fun as it sounds.

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At exactly one week before Jack’s due date, we were scheduled for an induction.  I was super emotional when saying goodbye to Tucker, my first baby, to leave for the hospital.  I think because the next time I would see him, he wouldn’t be my only baby anymore.

Our birth plan was to deliver naturally with an epidural.  We prepared so much for this – classes, breathing techniques, focal points, playlists.  Once again, the lesson of selflessness came into play when after just a few hours of contractions, our doctor stormed up to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning after learning of Jack’s condition for an immediate cesarean.  So not what I wanted!  You can read our full birth story here, but our failed birth plan was quickly forgotten as soon as Jack entered the world on May 3, 2013 at 5:43 a.m.

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Hello, world!  Jack is here, and I’m a mother!

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[hr] Please Note :: Bassett Baby Planning is graciously sponsoring our ‘How I Became a Mother Series’…and we would not have it any other way!  We are passionate about all that they are doing for new and expecting moms, and we encourage you to contact them to help in your journey to becoming a mother too.

To learn more about Bassett Baby Planning

or schedule an appointment, please contact ::

855.455.BABY or info {at} bassettbabyplanning {dot} com

4 COMMENTS

  1. Beautiful story and message Chelsea. It’s funny how that reminder to be selfless does come daily being a mom. And you crack me up crazy dog lady!!! 🙂

  2. my due date was march 8. tyrone was so excited to have a march baby (he’s march 12). she was born feb 28th quickly showing us we could plan all we want but it didn’t mean a thing.

    oh, and i love the professional pics of Tucker.

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