Rebecca Balfe is a former editor for Love What Matters. She resides in NYC, owning and rescuing adorable cats. She is an avid Lupus fighter and advocate.
‘I don’t want to be a foster mom right now.’ The call came when I least expected it. EVERYTHING changed. ‘I’m not ready to lose them.’: Couple takes in 3 siblings, ‘Being a foster mom is a joy’
“‘We have a sibling set of three children.’ I interrupted, ‘THREE??’ It was then that we knew. I felt the dream of a newborn baby slipping away as we agreed to ‘a short while’ while they looked for a prepared family.”
‘Oh my gosh, there’s a HEARTBEAT! A baby! I knew they were wrong! I’m a MOM! After I caught my breath, I asked the doctor, ‘Is that a heartbeat?’ He was puzzled, but didn’t look happy.’
“I couldn’t even take a breath. The embryologist said, ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, because I have never seen this happen!’ I still couldn’t breathe. What was he about to say? At this point I’m jumping up and down screaming. I had to ask.”
‘Oh stop! She’s scared, leave her be.’ She knew I was not ready for this. I got in my car and had many missed calls from my dad. I called him back immediately, and heard the words that would change my life.’
“As soon as I hung up the phone, I knew. I sat in my car and cried. I cried tears I didn’t know I had. I couldn’t breathe. I had to call my husband to tell him I wasn’t sure I could drive home.”
‘Erin, I love you.’ After 18 years of occassional likes, random comments, I awoke to a note on my table.’: Woman marries ‘stranger’ she met on the internet, ‘I can live the rest of my life with him’
“For years, I watched his life move forward on my computer screen. He didn’t know it, but the moments he took to talk to me were pulling me through some of my darkest days. Did this stranger know how much I adored him? That tiny note was the very first time I saw his handwriting, and realized I loved him.”
‘It must be stress’. The doctors made me feel I was making things up. This was all in my head, and I’m just wasting their time.’
“It was hard to keep it hidden anymore. The hope that these symptoms would go away was fading fast. I never told any of my friends or my school teachers because I felt too embarrassed.”
‘Two women wanted to help us create the family we had always wanted. The funny thing is – we never asked them. They asked US.’
“My first comment was, ‘We need to hire some staff!!!’ I actually almost fainted. The nurse had to bring me a glass of water before we could even attend to Danielle, who now realized she was carrying twins!”
‘You need to get to the hospital as soon as you can.’ I didn’t even have time to ask what was wrong. ‘Is my daughter going to live?’ The nurse on the other end of the line paused. ‘We don’t know.’
“The technician asked me, ‘Do you feel that?’ I asked, ‘feel what?’ She said, ‘You’re having a contraction!’ I asked if I could see her face on the monitor. ‘I can’t show you because she’s in the birth canal!'”
‘People think it’s gross, but without this bag of poop on my stomach, I wouldn’t be here.’: Young woman diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, says life ‘isn’t fair,’ but it’s ‘downright beautiful’
“Growing up, I wasn’t grateful for anything. Then I got sick. I went from picture-perfect health to being too frail to even move. I was rushed to the ER. ‘We need to act fast!’ My heart stopped, my breathing hitched, and suddenly I knew what was coming. He lowered the mask onto my face, and I remember thinking ‘please’ over and over again.”