How Babies in Bloom was born
Through the years, clients and students frequently asked me, “Where can you buy a …?” or, “How do you use a …?” I envisioned a place where people could come in and take a class or, find the perfect product to meet their needs during pregnancy and the first year of their baby’s life. Not an overwhelmingly huge store with aisles and aisles of stuff, but a place where you could pull up a chair and ask someone questions. A place where someone would help you choose the right items for you and then show you how to use them. My intention is that Babies in Bloom embodies that dream.
Hi, I’m Rochelle!
At the age of 10, while my friends dreamed of becoming princesses and ballet dancers, I announced that I wanted to be an obstetrician when I grew up. When I was a child, I was always fascinated by birth. I attended my first birth when I was 17, supporting my cousin and her husband while she gave birth to their daughter. That wondrous moment galvanized my decision to pursue a career in medicine and birth. The license plate on my car even read OBGYN2B and that is the path I focused on in high school and college … until I decided to marry my best friend who happened to be entering a career of military service.
I spent the next several years moving around the country with him, working in early childhood education, but always felt that something was missing. The birth of my own two children reawakened my desire to work in the birth field. It allowed me to realize that pregnancy and childbirth was where I was meant to be. I treasured every moment of my pregnancies and read voraciously. When my friends’ husbands were deployed, they asked me to be there when their babies were born. When my children were old enough, I returned to school.
While in nursing school, I took a doula training course thinking it would help me be a better labor and delivery nurse. Instead I found a name for the role I had assumed with so many friends and family members. Becoming a certified childbirth educator and lactation consultant allowed me to expand my knowledge and ability to support pregnant women and families. I knew that this is what I was supposed to do and finally felt complete.
The best part of my chosen career is that it allows me to do something I enjoy without compromising the most important job I have – that of wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend. Working with pregnant and new families isn’t my career, it is my passion. I enjoy being able to meet people and help them navigate the transition to parenthood. I feel so blessed to be able to do what I like and love what I do!
xo- Rochelle
