Today marks one year since I made the leap and had my friend set up Grow Well LLC for me. It’s both hard to believe it has already been a year, but also seems like it has been a very long year at the same time!!
To say that this past year has been easy would be a lie. There have been many struggles for sure. Times when I really doubted that I was actually following God’s plan and that I was making things fit into being a sign from Him that this is what I needed to do. Patience is a virtue, and it is one that I need to work on for sure! At one point last fall as I was waiting for things to get going with the practice, I saw that there was a posting for an OT in the NICU, which had been a goal for me prior to starting Grow Well. That morning I felt confused and upset because what led me to deciding to start a private practice was the red tape that was keeping me out of the NICU because of a vaccine that is contraindicated with my medication. I thought maybe I should just take the risk and get the vaccine…maybe I wasn’t really meant to have a private practice since I hadn’t yet had a family bring their baby to see me. But then that afternoon as I was driving (where I do my best praying) I prayed for a very clear sign from God. There is one song that has played at every major career change I have made, and I asked that if I needed to keep going with Grow Well that the song would play as I drove. As I do, I got lost in other thoughts…but snapped back to reality when the very next song that played was God of All My Days by Casting Crowns. That is my song…my message I needed to keep hanging on to this dream.
I’m not going to pretend that after hearing that song that reaffirmed this is right that things got easy, they didn’t. However, I am happy to say that at the one year mark since establishing the LLC that I have had patients and that has been a beautiful reminder that I am on the right path and makes me hopeful for the future. Being able to help families using all of my skills with their babies is everything that I dreamed it would be. Showing up for a family with a baby with torticollis and being able to give them positioning tips and stretches that will help with the torticollis, while also being able to support them with feeding in the same visit is exactly what I envisioned when I started this practice. Teaching a mama how to do massage with her baby and then seeing the connection between them as she performed massage…melted my heart! Being able to see the change in a baby from one week to another because the parents were following my recommendations and also just seeing the change in development in just a week’s time is just magical. Coordinating with a lactation consultant to make sure a baby gets the best care possible is so fulfilling. I have to remember that through the year there have been struggles, but there have been these amazing highs.
While I continue to build Grow Well and increase the number of babies and families I can serve, I am continuing to build more connections and work on getting the word out that I am here in St. Peters to provide services for babies in the first year. If you know someone that could use my services or you have a connection that I need to meet, please let me know! Thanks for the support!