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Help Support Our Birth and Parenthood Journey

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Hi friends,

One year ago, my beautiful partner - Chay - and I had our first date in Lake Merritt, Oakland. We spent a few hours circling the lake, sharing with eachother stories about ourselves, our values, the kind of music we liked, and what we were looking for in a partner. Since that afternoon, life has changed in the wildest and most meaningful ways for us.

I left a toxic nonprofit job to focus on my leadership coaching work/business during the end of the last year.

I moved in with Chay towards the end of February. At that point we knew we wanted to spend our lives together. We had our hopes and dreams - our careers, our travel plans, maybe even starting a family one day.

And then I discovered I was pregnant. So you could say that the Universe wanted us to get the ball rolling earlier than we thought :)

We're going to welcome our beautiful daughter, Surya, early November. It's still surreal to read that out loud, but it's happening, and we can't wait. This year has been both beautiful and wild and chaotic. We got engaged in NYC, met eachother's families, and we're still getting to know eachother.

All while learning about ourselves...the kind of parents we want to be, the fears we held on to from the past, and grieving the loss, because when you go on this journey, you do lose a part of yourself.

I didn't realize that pregnancy would require a tremendous amount of fortitude.

At 38, I am considered a "high risk" mom. In my first trimester, I slept very little and couldn't really show up for my client work with the presence I desired. I had goals to scale my business, and worked hard on my website and content...but I couldn't manage to balance it all with all the changes happening to me physically and emotionally.

Chay also needed to find work that would support us financially since I couldn't really financially contribute.

Between the both of us, we have growing graduate student loan debt that's well up to the 6 figures. While we're both so grateful to have all that we do - our health, our education, a place to call home, food, etc - we're also up nights trying to figure out how to prepare for parenthood.

We created this fund with the hope that our community will show up for us during the most important moment in our lives.

On top of rent, utilities, food, etc. ...our credit card expenses are growing as we prepare to create a healthy and safe space for our baby and for me. Since we aren't married, I can't go under Chay's health insurance plan yet so we pay for subsidized healthcare so I can access California's maternal care network.

Both Chay and I are also pretty much on our own...meaning we don't really have the privilege of asking our families for financial support (and we love them so so much for showing up for us in other ways). In terms of help with childcare when I go back to work, we're still trying to figure that out as well...his family lives a few hours away in Mendocino and my family is in NYC. Not being able to lean on our families means adding a nanny share or daycare to the budget

Your gift will help pay for Suri's baby needs, from her diapers to her cozy crib to her baby monitor. It'll also help support Chay and I when he goes into paternity leave (California Paid Family Leave pays only 60% - 70% of weekly wages and we know Bay Area isn't cheap).

It'll support additional help we need like bringing in someone to help with domestic duties like cleaning or cooking while we stay up nights and days to be parents...to be the best parents for our little girl.

We want to also raise awareness of the silent and growing needs of millennial parents everywhere. It really takes a village.

As our dear friend Arti shared, "Elders recognized Money as a life force. New mamas need money and that's why the idea of a baby shower came into existence, to support the mama and the life force she is creating."

We are grateful for your love, support, and understanding...and we thank you for letting us share our story and for letting us feel good about asking for help.
Donate

Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $50
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $40
    • 1 yr
  • Prabsimran Sachdev
    • $50
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $44
    • 1 yr
  • Talia Solomon
    • $50
    • 1 yr
Donate

Organizer

Jennifer Chowdhury
Organizer
Emeryville, CA

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