When three-time Adelaide AFLW Premiership Captain Chelsea Randall met her son Tomi for the first time, amongst the tears of joy, there was a phrase she could not stop repeating.
“I remember the paediatrician standing next to me and I said ‘can I touch him?’ and they all laughed at me and said ‘of course you can, he’s your son’,” Randall said.
“I thought ‘my son, we have a son’, and I just kept repeating it.
“It was such a surreal moment.
“There are no words that would do it justice, I was just overwhelmed with so much love.”
Randall’s partner, two-time Crows Premiership player, Marijana Rajcic, gave birth to Tomi on October 27, 2023, and Randall candidly opened up to AFC Media ahead of the pair’s first Mother’s Day.
It was in April 2023 that Randall and Rajcic announced their pregnancy with a joint post on Instagram but before that, when the couple found out the news themselves, there was a whirlwind of emotions.
“We cried when we first found out that we were pregnant,” Randall said.
“Watching MJ carry our child was incredible, I found a new-found love and admiration for her. It was very special.
“We saw the heartbeat at seven weeks and there were tears again… The moment we actually heard a heartbeat, it was real and we knew it was going to be incredible.”
For Randall, however, other than the first time she laid eyes on Tomi after he entered the world, there was one other special family memory that she would forever hold close.
“Driving Tomi and MJ home from the hospital, I went and got the car, parked out the front and we took our son home, looking in the rear vision mirror seeing him there my whole world was in one car,” Randall said.
“It was incredible.”
Six months have now passed since Tomi was born and Randall says being a mum comes with a special responsibility - something she’ll never take for granted.
“Motherhood has helped me learn a bit more patience, that’s for sure.
“It’s taught me that full heart of love - this small child is so dependent on us.
“It’s just the best thing that has ever happened in my life and having MJ and Tomi in my world is everything.”
Randall is also continuing to juggle motherhood and family life with working in the Crows’ AFL coaching cohort, preparing for an eighth season playing in the AFLW and studying a Certificate IV in Celebrancy.
Although busy, Randall said she would not have it any other way.
“It’s challenging because you’re providing for your family, as well as trying to be an athlete, work full time and study,” Randall, who just completed a teaching degree, said.
“But pretty much every parent would say the biggest challenge is juggling everything in life.
“I’m still in the very early days of motherhood and MJ and I are still learning, but it’s such an important role that you’re committed to this human being’s life forever - it’s a pretty cool feeling.
“Being a mum is one of the proudest roles I’ve ever carried so far.”
