There are real-life wonder women in this world and Clarendon Hills’ Kate Arquilla is absolutely one of them. As a married mother to three children under 5-years-old, the founder of an educational blog with nearly 60,000 followers on Instagram, and the owner of a new store that curates all of the things she loves as a mom and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse—she seemingly does it all, somehow while being well dressed and with a smile on her face.

“Some days it’s a lot,” says Arquilla, who at press time had just celebrated the one-month anniversary of Bumble Baby, her new downtown Clarendon Hills store named after her wildly popular blog. “But I know I’m not alone feeling that way. That was one of the reasons I started my blog—to connect with other moms who I knew were juggling different parts of motherhood.”

When Arquilla graduated from college, she pursued a Masters of Science in Nursing from DePaul University in Chicago. After she finished, she took a job in the NICU at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

“When I was in school, I loved my rotation in Labor & Delivery,” Arquilla says. “But then when the baby was born, that’s all I could see. I am all about the babies. I went to the NICU and never looked back.” When word spread that Arquilla was a “baby nurse,” anyone who knew her or knew of her asked her all sorts of questions:

“Why won’t my baby take a bottle?”

“Does this poop look normal?”

“Why is breastfeeding so hard?”

“NICU RNs (Registered Nurses) are responsible for educating the families of our patients—we taught parents how to take care of their babies before they were discharged home,” she says, having left her post at Lurie Children’s last year to focus on things closer to home. “Coming from this NICU experience, I understood how to educate families in a way that empowers them to be the primary caretaker of their babies. So, when new parents or expectant ones were asking me all sorts of questions, I realized how much parents yearned to know how to take care of their babies and how the internet lacked these resources,” Arquilla says. “I started Bumble Baby five years ago because parents needed information they could trust—some place they could go with their questions and get accurate, reliable, and research-based information. But it has grown into so much more—something I never expected— and I feel so lucky for that.”

Today, the Bumble Baby website and Instagram account shares the wisdom and expertise of Arquilla and four others—Lauren McCarthy and Natalie Hnatuik—NICU RNs, Deema Soufan—Licensed Professional Counselor, and Renée Zetlin. Together, they share their professional knowledge and personal parenting stories on topics ranging from infant feeding and maternal mental health to sleep consulting and car seat installation.

“What’s unique about Bumble Baby and having all of us work together is that none of us have had the same experience,” Arquilla explains. “We approach our followers and our community by supporting them in how they want to parent—we help them figure this out—whatever that looks like for their families.”

For example, Arquilla is a certified sleep consultant. “I know that the sleep method I’m certified in won’t work for every family,” she says. “But our job is to find what will work best for you. That’s where our expertise comes in. We don’t push one method in any of our consultations—we take into consideration your personal goals, your family dynamics, and the reality of parenting in 2021.”

This level of empathy and understanding is at the very heart of Bumble Baby. “I know that parenting can be very lonely, so it’s nice to have that sense of community that people have found with Bumble Baby,” she says. “But one of the hard things about social media is that we often only see people’s good sides. We only see the wins and the beautiful moments. But everyone has those times in between that aren’t so pretty, and I think that those are what people need to see the most—especially as a vulnerable new mom. We put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect and look perfect, but that’s just not reality! Even when you have this life on Instagram, there are those low points and that’s normal. That’s how life goes.”

One of the most powerful stories Arquilla has shared was the bout she had with postpartum depression (PPD) after her second baby. “It was hard to tell this story, but it was part of my life and I wanted other moms to know that you could get through this with the right support and treatment. It’s important for new parents to not only know the signs and symptoms of PPD, but that PPD and other perinatal mood disorders are common, and they are not their fault. Perinatal mood disorders don’t discriminate—we aren’t impermeable to them even with all the support systems in the world.

“When I think about Bumble Baby, I started it to create a community for those who might be looking for it. What I realized is how much I needed it, too,” she says. “There is definitely a balance between sharing and sharing too much, but I think we lean into the education component first on the blog, and then share a little bit of our lives where it makes sense and is helpful.”

Bumble Baby—the store—came as a result of the Bumble Baby community looking for a place where they could shop the products that Arquilla and her team love and recommend.

“There was a lot of interest in Bumble Baby having a place where people could come and pick up the products that we talk about,” says Arquilla.

Although there is a team behind the Bumble Baby website, it’s Arquilla and one full-time employee—Meg Rogers— who make the magic happen at the Bumble Baby store on Prospect Avenue in Clarendon Hills. They source a number of brands from smaller women-owned businesses, including a few custom items for Bumble Baby.

“Retail is a whole new world,” says Arquilla. “We are still in a process of trial and error, but have loved the progress so far.”

What has worked is the nice mix of items that Arquilla has carefully collected, including her favorite pacifier, a dual nursing bra, and a line of flowy dresses that can be worn during pregnancy and after.

“The workshops and programs we’ve offered in store have also been a hit,” Arquilla says. “It’s been so nice connecting with the Bumble Baby community in this different way and to meet their cute children.”

Bumble Baby is gearing up for the holidays, pre-wrapping gift items for the moms and little ones on your list that you can put right under your tree. While online shopping isn’t yet available, Bumble Baby will ship items bought in store.

Although it’s been a year since Arquilla has worked on the floor of a NICU, she says that Bumble Baby has afforded her the opportunity to stay connected to parents, similarly in the way she connected to patients and families in the NICU.

“I never thought I’d leave the bedside,” Arquilla says. “But Bumble Baby has been a way for me to give back and support families when they need it most.”

To learn more, visit bumblebabychicago.com. Bumble Baby is located at 7 S. Prospect Avenue in Clarendon Hills, 630-828- 6877.