“Despite the distance, we get through it all. Not because it’s easy or we have to, but because we love growing together.”

Meet Chelsea. She is wife to Adam, mother to eight-month-old Jaiden, and dog mom to her adopted furry friend, Mr. Peabody. She and Adam met when she was a poolee, which is a Marine that is already signed up for boot camp, but has not yet left for his/her 13 weeks at Parris Island. He had just graduated from boot camp and she caught his eye, so he asked if there was anything he could help her with to prepare for boot camp. She admitted that running was her most challenging obstacle, so he cheered her on as she trained. They quickly became friends, then began dating. Shortly after, they were expecting and got married.

They celebrated their nuptials at the courthouse in New Hampshire, their hometown, then began planning their wedding for May 5th, but he did not hear from his command that his leave was approved until the day of. Although their initial plans were foiled, they plan on renewing their vows once he returns home from deployment. He is currently on a MEU in an undisclosed location, but communication is extremely limited. She has not been able to see Adam’s face since he left and only heard his voice once.

Their son, Jaiden, is now eight months young and she is thankful to have him around this deployment. Chelsea’s birth story is a scary, but miraculous one. She was diagnosed with preeclampsia and Jaiden was born a month early due to her body’s high blood pressure. The stress that Jaiden was enduring caused his breathing to stop; however, this was quickly remedied and mother and son survived and are now both very healthy. Thankfully Adam was able to be there for the birth of his first son. Chelsea mentioned that having an infant during a deployment was a comfort, but also brought some sadness. Unfortunately, a lot of firsts happen during the first year of a child’s life and Adam isn’t currently able to witness those events, such as the first time he ate solid food, his first word, and potentially his first steps. Despite this, Chelsea has decided to keep a positive attitude about deployment and her husband’s absence. She encourages all other spouses in her same situation to first…just breathe. Then document and take pictures of all of baby’s milestones to send to daddy.

Because she and Adam got pregnant with Jaiden, Chelsea was unable to continue on to boot camp; however, that is not stopping her drive to be in the military. She still plans on pursuing her dream as a military member in the Army once Adam returns.

Here’s to strong women who don’t give up on their dreams, no matter what!