Her Responsibilities
Claudia Sorhaindo faced the struggles that every working mom faces: trying to balance her career with raising her daughter. She had to go back to working full time once her daughter turned two months old.
Her Responsibilities
Needing Help
Although Claudia would have preferred to spend more time with her daughter, she realized that in reality, she had to eventually get back to working full time and she would need to employ a babysitter. However, she was not waiting for this to happen.
Needing Help
Facing Reality
Claudia and her daughter Ava are resident of Lakeland, Florida. Just two months after giving birth, Claudia already felt a mother’s protective instinct, and she rarely wanted to leave her baby’s side. However, the harsh reality of life came and she knew that she needed to work to best support her daughter.
Facing Reality
A Balance
Many working moms have to face the pressure of the tough balancing act of being a good and attentive mother while also doing a good job at work. When her office called her, they told her that they wanted her to go to a business meeting.
A Balance
A Mother’s Dilemma
Attending the meeting would mean leaving Ava behind, and after she got off the phone, Claudia decided to make a list of options. None of them were too appealing to her: it was between missing out on a great opportunity in her career and missing out on time with her previous baby girl.
A Mother’s Dilemma
Decisions
Claudia knew that she didn’t really have a choice, as she was already finished with all of her maternity leave. She knew that she had to go to the meeting for the betterment of her career, but she was worried about who would take care of her daughter.
Decisions
A Helping Hand
Once she came to terms that she was going back to work full time, Claudia now had to decide just who would be the right person for the job. She knew that the meeting was not very long, she still wanted to leave her daughter in the care of somebody she could fully trust.
A Helping Hand
The Phone Call
Claudia went through her phone’s contacts to try to come up with the right choice. When she spoke to her sister, she suggested someone to Claudia who was potentially a good for for the babysitting job.
The Phone Call
An Option
Claudia’s sister suggested that her daughter J’Ann would be a good choice in babysitter for Ava while Claudia was at the meeting. Claudia was initially uneasy about the thought of a teenager watching her 2 month old baby, but then she thought about the fact that she knows that J’Ann is a responsible young woman.
An Option
No Other Option
In addition to having her sister’s reassurance that J’Ann was up to the job, Claudia also realized she didn’t really have any other realistic options. She felt the fear that every new parent has when they have to leave their children for the first time. Was she right to be so worried, or was it just something she needed to get used to?
No Other Option
Time to Decide
The day of the meeting approached and Claudia was not able to find another babysitter option. After a lot of debating, she decided that she would trust J’Ann with the job of watching Ava.
Time To Decide
Strict
J’Ann was happy to babysit Ava, but nobody knew what was waiting for them. Claudia gave her detailed instructions on what to do to try to minimize any issues, and she felt that as long as these rules were followed, nothing could go horribly wrong.
Strict
Qualified
J’Ann was the oldest grandchild in their family, so she already had a lot of practice with babysitting her other cousins. This is part of why she felt so confident in taking on this babysitting job, and even better, she was also CPR qualified.
Qualified
The Day Had Come
The day of the meeting finally arrived, and Claudia felt extremely anxious about leaving Ava. After all, this was the first time she had to leave her baby after giving birth, so it’s quite understandable that she was feeling uneasy. It didn’t help that she was nervous about leaving her baby with a teenager as a babysitter, no matter how qualified and experienced she was.
The Day Had Come
Ready to Go
Claudia gave J’Ann detailed instructions for everything that was needed and also made sure to include a list of emergency contacts in case of an unexpected issue. J’Ann was confident that she was well prepared and that she didn’t need anything else, but Claudia was still feeling like it was tough to actually leave the house.
Ready To Go
Business Meeting
Once Claudia finally began the drive to the meeting, she felt very anxious. The new mom was constantly looking at her phone in case she would get any emergency messages. She knew that this feeling wouldn’t go away until she came back home to her baby. Once she got out of the car, she looked at her phone one more time, and her heart sank. She saw a message from J’Ann.
Business Meeting
Full Screen
She quickly opened up the message and from the small thumbnail, Claudia could see that J’Ann sent her a photo and that Ava was in it. She immediately started to panic, thinking of all of the things that could possibly go wrong. When she clicked on the photo to enlarge it, loading was taking forever, extending the time of her anxiety.
Full Screen
Loading
Claudia couldn’t believe how long the photo was taking to load. In those few moments, her mind went through all of the things that could be possibly wrong. She felt like a terrible mother, she knew that leaving her baby this soon was a bad idea. Then, the photo finally loaded.
Loading
Finally Revealed
Claudia’s heart was racing, she needed to know exactly what was going on and whether she needed to get back in the car and speed back home. J’Ann’s message began with a text saying that she went to the kitchen to make a sandwich for herself.
Finally Revealed
Took Forever
After Claudia read the text, she returned to the image, and she noticed that Ava’s legs looked swollen. After further inspecting the picture, she was able to breathe a sigh of relief, and she even began to laugh once she realized what the photo was actually showing.
Took Forever
A Crazy Idea
Claudia was so relieved and all of the nervous anxiety she had experienced finally left her. It was confirmed that not only was J’Ann fully qualified to watch Ava, she was also doing a great job at it.
A Crazy Idea
Unconventional Thinking
Claudia realized that J’Ann showed how smart she is with the photo that she sent, exemplifying a hilarious and great solution for watching the baby while making a sandwich for herself in the kitchen. Claudia even thought about taking this idea for herself in the future!
Unconventional Thinking
Two-In-One
J’Ann tucked Ava safely into her sweatpants, making sure that the baby was completely secure within the waistband. This way, she was able to make her sandwich with both hands while keeping the baby safely close to her. Claudia was completely amused and also impressed by the photo.
Two In One
Hands-Free
Claudia logged on to her Facebook page to show her niece’s hilarious ingenuity. She called it the “hands-free method.” She explained the situation in the caption and published the image. Shortly after she posted it, the comments and likes came rolling in.
Hands Free
Unexpected
Claudia headed into her meeting after she posted the photo on to her timeline. Her whole family saw it and reacted to the photo. Claudia knew that everyone would see it, which is why she decided to share the photo in the first place.
Unexpected
Attracting Attention
After she finished with her meeting, she logged onto her Facebook page again, and she saw that she had tons of new notifications. The post made waves on the social media platform, and was even shared many times. The picture began to attract a lot of attention.
Attracting Attention
Interactions
Claudia realized that the post had garnered hundreds of likes as well as comments, and she was completely taken aback. She even came up with her own new idea as she was browsing through the comments that people left on the photo.
Interactions
Surprising Reactions
She read all of the comments, seeing ones that tagged other people to see it, as well as many comments that gushed about how cute her baby Ava is. Most of the comments commended J’Ann on her creative and brilliant solution.
Surprising Reactions
Business Ideas
One commenter suggested that they get a patent for maternity pants that have the ability to keep the baby in them afterwards. While this suggestion might sound silly, they began to wonder if this could actually be a good business idea.
Business Ideas
Her Plan
Claudia decided to come up with a business plan with the help of J’Ann. They hoped to make pregnant women’s lives a bit easier with their idea, and they even decided to call the pants J’Pants in honor of J’Ann coming up with the idea. They got production up and running very quickly.
Her Plan
A Massive Hurdle
Claudia absolutely loved the design, but she also realized that opening up a new business would be no easy feat. New businesses require funding, and so they decided to open up a GoFundMe page to ask people to help them with their project.
A Massive Hurdle
Business and Family Relationships
The fundraiser didn’t reach their final goal, but they did get a lot of help and donations from many people who also hoped that the J’Pants would come to fruition. However, in the end, the GoFundMe page only raised about $220.
Business And Family Relationships
Sense of Security
While all this was happening, Claudia came to a realization that J’Ann’s brilliant solution came from love and support, and she realized that she was truly blessed with a supportive family and loving community.
Sense Of Security
Terrible Truth
The truth was that Claudia’s initial trepidation was not merely a case of new mother-itis. She had a lot of experience working with kids since she came from a very large family. She had gone through a traumatic experience that caused her to be more cautious than before.
Terrible Truth
A Traumatic Event
In 2011, Claudia experienced a tragic event that nobody she go through: she lost her three month old baby girl Jenelle. She and her entire family were completely devastated, and understandably so.
A Traumatic Event
A New Beginning
When Claudia became pregnant with Ava, she and her fiance decided that they would move to the United States. She never thought that she would be able to have another baby until she became pregnant with Ava.
A New Beginning
Life in America
The reason she felt hopeless after losing Jenelle was because she was told she would not be able to conceive again. This is why she saw her pregnancy with Ava as such a big blessing, and what helped prompt the family’s move to the U.S., where they would have a lot of support from family.
Life In America
Feeling Loved
After Claudia posted the photo and it went viral, she knew that she had made the right choice. She realized that no matter what she faced, she had a support system behind her. Moving can be a huge undertaking, but in the end it was definitely the right thing for her to do.
Feeling Loved
New Joy
When baby Ava was born, she was the biggest blessing the family could experience after having gone through such a tragic loss. After they lost Jenelle, they never thought they could experienced joy again, but when Ava arrived, that all changed and a new era of happiness was ushered in.
New Joy
A Family Blessing
When talking about her life, Claudia discusses her tragic loss, Ava’s birth, and then eventually J’Ann’s brilliant new idea. Claudia felt that her family were her biggest supporters through her loss, and with their continued support and help when Ava was born, she knew she was truly lucky to have them.
A Family Blessing
