Devon Ledbetter is a writer and editor based in Florida. She holds a BA in English from Florida State University. She currently formerly worked as a Digital Editor with Love What Matters and has previously had works published with College Magazine and Her Campus. Her favorite pastimes include beach trips, baking, and concerts. You can learn more about Devon through her portfolio https://dnl16b.wixsite.com/ledbetter-portfolio
“She couldn’t even sit up without falling over. Our eleven-year-old daughter had become a six-month-old all over again. To this day, almost five years later, we still don’t know the cause.”
“‘What a gorgeous baby! He must be a dream come true?’ Please don’t forget to say, ‘Mom, he’s great, but how are YOU?'”
“I apprehensively showed him the test, thinking surely he’d turn around and run the other way. Instead, he hugged me as my mascara ran down my face, telling me, ‘Everything will be okay.’ I knew he was going to change my life.”
“Please take the risk, eat the cake, do the thing. Please start the business, grow your family, follow your heart. We didn’t want it to come. But it still came. And then it came again. And it had no mercy.”
“‘Love her like you would a normal child.’ Would people really think Charlotte wasn’t a ‘normal’ child or we wouldn’t love the crap out of her? And what is ‘normal’ anyway?”
“I was promised my boyfriend would be there for me. Because of my circumstances, my party life had stopped. Meanwhile, his kept going. My relationship with my child’s father was slowly crumbling.”
“I’ve heard ‘I feel fat’ come out of the mouths of women of all shapes and sizes.”
“You live each moment and emotion to its fullest. When you’re happy, you radiate joy. And when you’re sad, you’re not afraid to cry and let out your emotions.”
“It’s loving your children more than life itself and wanting to give them the world. It’s knowing you’ve only got one shot at motherhood before they’re grown up and gone.”
“One night, while I was holding my fragile Heron, he turned completely grey. All I can remember is sounds exploding from seemingly everywhere and a sea of NICU staff rushed into the room. All we could do was stand back and watch.”
