Baby steps

I AM A DIFFERENT PERSON NOW THAN I WAS WHEN this pandemic started. I don’t just mean that I’ve stopped wearing makeup and started wearing leggings as my work-and-play uniform, although, yes, that too. Everything feels different because I went into the pandemic with a cute baby bump and the habit of sleeping through the night, and somewhere in there and with very few witnesses, I transformed into an actual mom.

A year after my son was born, I still am somewhat shocked to hold this title. I am now and forever will be someone’s mom! It’s an adjustment that I’m sure feels massive for most parents, regardless of whether their babies were born during a pandemic, but for me, much of the surprise is a result of having very little experience seeing parents who look like me.

I am a disabled mom. More specifically, I am a mom with paralyzed legs who uses a wheelchair to get most places. Before I found out I was pregnant, the idea that I would be a parent felt as likely and terrifying as taking a trek to outer space in a homemade rocket. And it would seem I’m not the only one with this lack of