I beat the odds to become a mom. Now I'm caring for mine, too.

The long road to family through IVF​​

When Kelly and her husband, David, married in 2001, they imagined children filling their home. Instead, doctors told them they had about a 3% chance of conceiving.​

What followed was a six-year journey through infertility, miscarriages, and multiple rounds of in vitro fertilization, marked by appointments, medications, and injections David first practiced on an orange before giving them at home.​

“Going through infertility felt so lonely,” Kelly says.​

CVS Specialty® helped ensure she had the medications she needed, making one part of an emotionally and physically demanding process easier to manage.​

“It felt like we finally had a plan,” she recalls.​

Kelly chronicled the experience through her blog, Life Through IVF, later turning it into a book that Lily and Grady can now read to see how deeply they were wanted before they were born.​

Lily arrived in 2008, followed by Grady two years later.​

“Every single day I look at them as just a total miracle,” Kelly says.​

But after struggling so hard to become a mother, Kelly put enormous pressure on herself to get everything right.​

I remember looking at Lily and thinking, ‘I can’t mess this up.’”​

Learning to let go of perfect​

Kelly spent nearly 20 years helping students and families as a teacher and school counselor. In the classroom, she could remain composed through even the most challenging moments. At home, the stakes felt different.​

Her family jokingly called themselves the “Happy Hutchesons,” but over time, Kelly realized happiness shouldn’t be the goal. Her children didn’t need every difficult emotion erased; they needed to know those feelings could come and go, and they would be OK.​

“Kids will show you where you need to grow,” Kelly says. “And my kids definitely woke me up to that.”​

Growing up, Kelly and her sisters never doubted they were loved. Their parents’ unconditional love wasn’t tied to grades, accomplishments, or expectations; it simply provided a sense of security that stayed with them long after childhood.​

When Kelly was in kindergarten, a teacher pulled Mary aside and said, “She has a big spirit. Don’t let anyone steal her light.” Her parents took that advice to heart, creating a home where their daughters felt appreciated, accepted, and encouraged to shine exactly as they were.​

Mary’s approach to parenting was captured in a simple phrase:​

“I just marinated you in love.”​​

Through conscious parenting practices, Kelly began returning to a truth her own childhood had taught her: people are already enough when they are born. Infertility had shaken that confidence in herself, and motherhood brought a fear that she had to be perfect.

She began paying closer attention to the energy she brought into the home, choosing encouragement over punishment or control and helping Lily and Grady feel seen, supported and free to become themselves.

A new town, a familiar pharmacy​

A change in David’s job led the family to move more than two hours away, opening the door to Kelly’s next chapter.​

While they rebuilt routines, Kelly reconsidered her own path. After years of pouring so much of herself into other families, she wanted more flexibility and time with the children she had worked so hard to have.​

As Kelly and David navigated the uncertainty, her father, Len, known for quiet but meaningful gestures, helped ease the transition.​

When Kelly’s family relocated, Len drew a map of the area around their new home, labeling nearby stores, restaurants, and everyday stops.​

“He wanted that map to be one less thing for us to worry about,” Kelly says.​

Among the places he marked was a CVS Pharmacy®, already part of Kelly’s life long before the move. Seeing it on the map offered reassurance that a resource her family relied on was still nearby. Her father circled it. Kelly put a heart around it.

Located at what Kelly calls “Main and Main,” the store became a familiar landmark as the family settled in. As their needs evolved, CVS Health remained part of key milestones, from fertility medications to MinuteClinic® visits for physical exams and other wellness needs. For Kelly, that convenience was especially valuable when her children needed last-minute sports physicals during the summer. Appointments elsewhere could be weeks or months away, and walk-in wait times were often long.​

Kelly went on to create a life with more purpose and room to breathe: a flexible career, her Harmony in the Home podcast, and new ways to help other families while staying close to her own.​

She also began reconnecting with herself. Once a competitive college soccer player, Kelly rediscovered her athletic side and the spark that had always been part of her through pickleball, which she jokingly calls "therapy ball."​

Caring for the woman who cared for her​

As Kelly’s children grew, her parents began relying on their daughters in new ways.

Mary began needing more support, and Kelly’s family rallied around her. Then Len, who had seemed “healthy as a horse,” was unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer.

The man everyone turned to suddenly needed care himself. When Len died in 2023, Kelly lost one of the guiding presences in her life, deepening her appreciation for the time she still has with Mary.

“It has been very emotional and very tough,” she says. “My mom has always been my rock. So all of a sudden, for me to have to be a rock for her has been a difficult transition.”

During visits, Kelly often tells Mary she is “the most amazing mom.” Sometimes Mary lights up and asks, “Really?”

“The greatest gift I can give back to her is to be a caregiver for her,” Kelly says. “She showed us so much love, and now she needs that love from us.”

The roles have changed, but the love has not.