Posts by: Colin Balfe

Colin Balfe is the Founder and Chief Content Officer of Love What Matters. Colin was inspired to start Love What Matters after his mother passed from Ovarian cancer. Through his grieving process, he saw the need to connect a like minded community around a deeply personal storytelling platform. He's proudest of the communities within LWM, strangers united by powerful and impactful experiences, underserved people connecting around mutual challenges, hopes and dreams. These communities include Adoption, Mental Health, Infertility, Addiction, Grief, Special Needs Parenting, LGBTQ+ and many more.

‘He went pale, stuttered and said, ‘Ma’am, one of your baby’s is in your birth canal, feet first.’ People started flying in. I begged him to give them more time.’: Mom’s son diagnosed with cerebral palsy is her ‘fighter’

“By the time the helicopter arrived, conditions were too dangerous. I assumed we would be rushed, lights blazing and sirens blasting to the next hospital. I kept asking when a doctor would get around to me. A resident finally came in. His face immediately gave him away.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 05, 2019

‘I was screaming at the top of my lungs, ‘Bryan, wake up! I need you. Don’t leave me.’ It was hidden in something. He had been clean. That is it.’

“My parents started calling every recent number, desperately searching for their child. When someone finally answered, they laughed and taunted my dad when he said he was looking for his son. They LAUGHED.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 05, 2019

‘I wondered what they meant by ‘whatever brain tissue was left.’ They were having me sign consent forms to keep her alive. He said ‘We need you to understand her life will not be normal.’

“The neonatologist and nurses still didn’t have any idea what was going on or why she was in the condition she was in. The neonatologist said, ‘we aren’t really sure what’s going on, but the baby is very, very sick.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 04, 2019

‘It’s identical twins, the embryo split.’ WHAT! Hearing I may never carry a child at the age of 22 was heartbreaking and a complete shock’

“We went in for our first ultrasound around 6 weeks and that’s when we heard the news from the doctor ‘there is no heartbeat”

Colin Balfe - Feb 04, 2019

‘Doctors told me, ‘He will look like a ‘normal’ newborn.’ The tech said, ‘They saw something wrong with the brain, right?’: Baby born with Factor V Leiden, ‘I am beyond proud of him’

“He had his hand on my shoulder when he told me my son’s condition has gotten worse. ‘Your sweet little boy needs you to stay strong’ he said. ‘He is still absolutely perfect.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 03, 2019

‘I found myself obsessing about alcohol and how much was too much while breastfeeding. Doesn’t everyone get so buzzed they can’t drive home?’: Mom grateful to enjoy family with ‘freedom from alcohol’

“I wish I could say that was the first time I woke up after a night of heavy drinking wondering who put the baby to sleep.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 01, 2019

‘And there’s the other one!’ she said. Another blob appeared. My husband and I were shocked. I broke out in a huge smile. ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!’

“I’d never seen my husband speechless until that moment. I remember being terrified, but I assumed everything would end up okay. These sorts of terrible things happened to ‘other people,’ and surely not me.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 01, 2019

‘You’re too young. You’re making this up. It’s all in your head.’ She tortured me through the test, insisting I was fat and overweight, and THAT’S why I was having pain. I was done.’

“I was going through customs when I got pulled into secondary screening. I didn’t know why. I sat in a locked concrete room and was told all my wrong-doings and mistakes and what my options for consequences were. I had to leave the country.”

Colin Balfe - Feb 01, 2019

‘I received the stares, the looks and many of the glares. I knew what those looks were really saying. I understood my life was no longer my own.’

“Memories flood my head so fast they start to overflow as tears run down my face.”

Colin Balfe - Jan 31, 2019

‘Divorce. Maybe it’s time. I just don’t think I can make you happy anymore.’: Widow recounts time marriage almost ended in divorce

“There were a lot of conversations where I would literally tell him, ‘You don’t love me.’ On this rainy April day, I had finally worn him down. ‘No,’ I thought.”

Colin Balfe - Jan 31, 2019