Rachelle and Chris recently embarked on a new journey in their life: parenthood. Rachelle, a well-known figure in the spinal cord injury community, was paralyzed from the chest down after she was pushed into a shallow pool at her bachelorette party.
A new journey as parents
Rachelle and her husband are raising their toddler Kaylee. Soon after Kaylee was born, Rachelle was interviewed about her hopes and fears in raising a child – in particular, Rachelle discusses how being a parent with a disability presents unique challenges when it comes to physically interacting with a growing baby.
“I recently changed my first diaper, which isn’t the easiest thing without dexterity,” she shares. It’s things like this – changing a diaper and dressing a newborn – that take time and trial and error to figure out. “I’m just going to have to take some extra precautions,” Rachelle says.
Watching able-bodied moms interact with their children is something Rachelle admits is difficult for her. “I’m jealous of pretty much everything an able-bodied parent can do with their toddler,” she shares. “I want to be the one to teach my child how to swim, play hide and seek at the park, take them down their first slide when they are too scared.”
Creating a bond as a mom
While the physical aspect of parenting with a disability has challenges, Rachelle knows that the mental aspect, bonding in particular, won’t be an issue. Rachelle shares the thing she’s most excited about when raising her daughter is “creating the same mother-daughter friendship I have with my mom, and watching Chris have that daddy-daughter relationship I’ve had with my dad.”
Rachelle is entering the world of parenting with a disability very rationally. She knows she won’t be able to cover all the physical aspects. But she also recognizes that even able-bodied parents need help with this. Parenting is challenging no matter if you’re walking on wheeling.
“People underestimate my ability to take care of even a toddler just because I happen to move on wheels and not on feet.”
They key is to have both patience and perseverance. “Those in my situation have told me just to be patient and keep working on how to do things with my limited hand function,” says Rachelle. “It’ll take practice but I’ll figure it out.”