Celebrating International Nurses Day with Kelli Rogerson

Hi! My name is Kelli Rogerson. I am a mom, wife, Nurse Practitioner, health coach, child of God, and an avid advocate for my son Hudson. I spent the majority of my 20-30s exploring the world with friends, getting my masters degrees, and working as an ER nurse.

At age 35, I met my husband, got married, and had our son, Henry at 38 years old. When Henry was 18 months old, we found out we were expecting baby #2. This was planned and we were very excited. Then at 10 weeks our genetic testing came back abnormal. My doctor called me at work and delivered the devastating news that our baby had a 90% chance of having Trisomy-21. I felt like I had been punched in the chest. I couldn’t breath. My chest began to hurt, tears ran down my face, and although I felt pain, I was also numb. I couldn’t really speak and I didn’t ask many questions.

This was a defining moment in my life. It tested my beliefs to the core. I had fleeting thoughts about abortion. We were not equipped to be special needs parents and how was this going to affect Henry. I felt so much guilt for the potential responsibilities we would be placing on him. Luckily, I have a strong, supportive husband who basically held me while I cried for weeks, which allowed me to process and navigate through my feelings. Although we were confused and mourning the death of the baby we envisioned, we were also gaining acceptance for our new life.

At 25 weeks, my water broke while at work. I was terrified and devastated. In the ED, they verified the fluid and an ultrasound was done. At that time, I was given a 70% chance of delivery within 72 hours and very little chance of survival for Hudson. At that very moment, I realized I much I loved and wanted Hudson.

I was lucky enough to spend 8 hard weeks on hospital bed rest, seeing my husband and son for only 1 hour a day. I couldn’t do anything and for the first time in my life I remember being super grateful for my body. I promised myself that as soon as I was able, I would share my story, make my health a priority, and help other women choose happiness and self love through fitness.

At 33 weeks, I went into labor and Hudson was born. Blood work confirmed the Trisomy-21 diagnosis and Hudson spent 7 weeks in the NICU in the midst of a pandemic.

At 6 weeks postpartum, I began my journey back to healthy and fit while navigating through my 4th trimester. My goal was to inspire and motivate other women to choose self love, happiness, and health. To provide support, resources, and effective and efficient programs that would lead to lasting physical and mental changes.

Today our team is made up of over 1000 coaches and hundreds of clients. I also continue to work part time as an Acute Care Cardiology NP, advocating strongly for preventive medicine.

In 2020, our world was flipped upside down and reassembled in the most beautiful way possible. It turns out the word “Trisomy-21” isn’t that scary after all. Hudson was born "extra special," making our family “extra lucky."

-Kelli-

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