At Baby Tula, we are always amazed at how the carrier we created to help our own family now helps so many families in various ways. You share your stories and we learn of so many poignant journeys that embody our motto: Keep Doing What You Love. It’s these moments, simple and grand, that we celebrate with our community. We chatted with Tula community member, Kristen of Reaching You who shared how Tula Baby Carriers helped her continue to be the mom she had always wanted to be.
As a child I’d say I was about as normal as they come. I didn’t have any major setbacks or limitations until I was 17 and I experienced the loss of my legs. And while that was a tragic and heartbreaking loss for me, my biggest concern was how I was ever going be a mom without my legs. From a young age I knew that someday I would be a wife and a mother. It’s something I dreamed about forever and I didn’t want losing my legs to change that.
Thankfully, I was fortunate to get back to regular life rather quickly. I was driving, working, and going to college within a year after the loss of my legs. But for years after I wondered HOW I would be a mom. HOW would I safely get a baby in and out of the house or a store while my hands were pushing my wheelchair? HOW would I get a baby from the living room to the kitchen, or the bedroom, or the bathroom while I was pushing my wheels?! I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold them in my arms, carry a carseat, or push a stroller. And I didn’t want to depend on my husband or someone else to care for our children in all of these ways. I wanted all of us to live as normal a life as possible…complete with taking simple walks around the block.
Just before my first child was born I was blessed with a few different baby carriers to try. Some our son didn’t like, and some I didn’t like… But we kept trying and I found a couple that we were okay with. Sadly, with as much as I was wearing him I really wish we wouldn’t have had to settle with something that was just good enough because my son never really liked being worn. For us it was really about function. When I found out I was pregnant with my second child I started to consider the Tula Baby Carrier.
My best friend had been using one and it often came up in our conversations. Personally, I never understood how it could be that different from the other soft structured carriers I’d had and tried. But when I came across a jaw dropping print on one of the newly released Tula carriers, I decided to give it a shot! I’d recently found out I was pregnant with my second child and it was the first thing I bought for her. As soon as I started using it I often switched back and forth between it and one of my other carriers to simply figure out all the differences. It wasn’t long before I was grabbing my Tula Baby Carrier over and over again. Sometimes I wish I had one in my car for when we are out, and one for my house for when we are home. It has really changed my whole babywearing experience and given me a much better perspective. I’m so grateful!
My daughter really likes it too. I can’t tell you how often I have put her in there because she wanted to be held and I need to make dinner, or clean the house, or work!! I work from home most days, and recently when she was sick with a bad cold the only way I could work was wearing her in my Tula. She needed to be upright to sleep and my Tula really saved the day!
Here are some quick points about what I like about my Tula Baby Carrier:
- The fabric where the baby sits is thin, and there aren’t any pockets or anything else on the back fabric. So, I can rub her back, she can feel my hand and I can feel every part of her little back as if there is only a shirt between my hand and her back. I found this very helpful with my little one who responds very positively whenever I touch her face; rub her belly, or her back. It soothes her instantly.
- I really like how soft and padded the straps are. They seem to absorb more of the weight. Honestly, I often forget it’s even there! (Which is really nice.)
- My baby seems to be very comfortable in the Tula Baby Carrier. She wants to be worn more than my son ever did and I really think it’s because she likes it more than all the other carriers we’ve tried. It’s nice because I feel like we have benefited from our babywearing relationship more than my son and I did. With my son, babywearing was more about function than anything else. Usually he wasn’t ever in one of our carriers unless he needed to be.
- The Tula Love community on Facebook is awesome.
- The range of options they have is incredible as well! I really love so many of their prints. I can’t wait to have some of my new mommy friends try it out. Not surprisingly, I’ve gotten the most compliments on my Tula carrier too.
The post Carried to Connect: Kristen’s Story appeared first on Baby Tula Blog.