Kristen Welker feared not having maternal instincts before her baby was born via a surrogate. But with a bit of encouragement from her OB-GYN on a way in which to feel connected from the moment the baby girl was born, those fears washed away and the NBC news correspondent felt nothing but a bond with her new baby.
On Monday, Welker shared her birth story with Hoda Kotb on SiriusXM's The Hoda Show, according to Today. And like many mothers who use a surrogate or adopt, the doubt was there that she would not have the maternal instinct and feel that connection with her baby girl.
The NBC News chief White House correspondent shared that "in the weeks leading up to the birth and the delivery" she was "nervous" about finally meeting her daughter because she "hadn't carried her." She did not have the nine months that so many do to feel that maternal instinct kick in and wondered if and when that would happen for her.
Speaking with her OB-GYN about how she was feeling, Welker was told to be involved with the delivery process by assisting with catching her daughter as she was born. By doing this, according to Insider, the doctor told Welker, "Your hands will literally be the first thing that [the baby] feels when she arrives into this new world."
When the NBC news personality readied herself to catch her baby girl and ultimately felt her in her hands, it became "the most magical moment of [her] entire life and at that moment for all of that self-doubt went away," per the publication.
Suddenly, that bond that Welker was fearing she would not have was there in spades. As was an "overwhelming sense of love and connection" was felt that she had "never felt for another human being before." And that feeling was "incredible."
The baby girl was named Margot Lane Welker Hughes by Welker and her husband, John Hughes.
Now that the fear of not having a bond is gone, according to Today, Welker cannot get enough of being around her now, three-month-old baby.
"I miss Margot when I put her to bed at night," the Weekend Today co-host told Kotb. As such, Welker goes into the baby's room more often than not just to look at her precious and perfect baby girl.
The journey to getting to this point was not an easy one for the couple.
After trying to conceive naturally did not end in pregnancy, according to Insider, it was suggested to Welker that she try in vitro fertilization. But as a result of her uterine lining being "too thin," that proved to not be an option.
Welker and Hughes discussed both adoption and surrogacy as other options, ultimately choosing surrogacy. And while the first attempt at implantation did not work, the second time did the trick and it was just a matter of months until the couple became a family of three.
While it may not have been the road she expected to travel to motherhood, in the end, Welker not only became a mother but she also shares that special bond with Margot that only a mother and daughter can share. And that is a special gift to have indeed.
Source: Today, Indeed, The Hoda Show