Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in partnership with Pampers as a Pampers Baby Board Member.
It’s been 9 years since my last baby shower. Expecting our first child was exciting and overwhelming. I was fortunate to have family near and my husband home and not deployed during both of my pregnancies and births. While it was a joyous occasion for us, this isn’t the case of many military families.
My husband served 8 years in the U.S. Navy. We didn’t have babies until his 5th year serving and lucky for us he was already on shore duty. This meant my husband was no longer on a ship but rather serving on North Island with a semi-normal everyday schedule. I only worried when he had duty because I knew he’d be away for 24hours. I can’t say enough how fortunate our family was during our pregnancies and how amazing his command was to us.
As a new mom, this life change is stressful enough, but not having family near or your spouse around can be even harder. This is the life of many military new moms. I have friends whose husbands missed not one but two pregnancies and births. That’s just one of the sacrifices we go through as military families.
I’ve been working with Pampers for a few years now and they continue to make life better for babies by providing amazing products and empowering us to give back to our communities. The latest news I’m happy to share is Pampers has partnered with Operation Shower!
I first heard of Operation Shower while we were stationed in San Diego. I thought it was such a great idea and while I didn’t attend one of their events for myself, I quickly learned about the awesome work they do for our military families.
Operation Shower’s mission is to relieve some of the stress of deployment to expecting military families by hosting baby showers across the country! They provide our military families with high-quality products for their babies to celebrate and recognize them for all they do for our country. What started as a “baby shower in a box” has now grown to thousands of joyful events! How amazing!
I was able to connect with Katie, a fellow Navy wife of 12 years to her husband Paul (who has been a submariner for 16 years now!). Katie hasn’t just attended an Operation Shower event herself but also continues to volunteer with the organization.
Katie shared that her husband was deployed during the end of her pregnancy so he did in fact miss preparing for the arrival of their son and his birth. It wasn’t until 3 months after Katie gave birth that she was reunited with her husband and he met their baby!
I’m so happy Katie was able to attend an Operation Shower event. I wanted to know more about attending an Operation Shower event so I asked Katie what her experience was and how it made a difference for her.
“Operation Shower was amazing. They had never done it in our area before so it was a new experience for everyone. They went above and beyond. Everything was so beautiful and they’re so generous. I definitely felt loved and appreciated.
My son was actually already 3 weeks old when I attended the shower but sometimes you don’t even realize that you needed something until you have it. I didn’t think I needed a baby tub. Wrong. They knew, and thank god they did. Babies are slippery. A front carrier helped me get so many things done when [baby] was fussy and just needed some cuddling
Events like Operation Shower I suppose aren’t strictly necessary but our lives are definitely out of the ordinary and full of sacrifice. Operation Shower helps show service members and their families that those sacrifices are acknowledged and immensely appreciated. Which is really it’s own gift.”
As I mentioned, I’m so excited Pampers is partnering with Operation Shower events now through June, donating Pampers Baby Dry diapers. I asked Katie her thoughts on this partnership as someone who not only attends but also gets to see new moms reactions as she volunteers these events.
“Pampers partnering with Operation Shower is really a blessing. You can never have too many diapers and Pampers’ quality is unmatched. I was so impressed with their generosity. If you’ve ever seen the mountain -diaper table at a shower you know what I mean. Definitely at the top of my favorite gift list.”
Events by Operation Shower aren’t possible without all the sponsors, donations and community volunteers. Katie has volunteered for 6 events and she hopes to continue to help. Katie says, “It’s so rewarding to give back and share this special day with new moms. They deserve to be recognized for their own sacrifices and bravery.”
I couldn’t’ agree more. Thank you to all our service members and their families for their continued sacrifices. And thank you Katie, for taking the time to chat with me and for all your family has sacrificed as well.
You too can join Operation Shower and Pampers in giving back to military families! Donate new mom essential gifts like diapers and wipes off the Operation Shower’s baby registry!
Leave a Reply