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
“At 26 weeks, I went in for a routine ultrasound only to be told I was being admitted. I knew it was coming to be life or death for this baby. My sweet Baby B was at risk.”
“I go to my bedroom and pick up the box. My heart immediately recognizes its weight. My hands know every edge and corner of this container that holds all that’s physically left of the man I thought I’d grow old with.”
“It’s giving zero F–KS, wearing what makes you happy, and being proud of how you look. It’s loving people for exactly who they are and showing everyone kindness without expecting anything in return.”
“The late night calls of a parent, the early morning calls of an emergency, pressing a button on an incubator before you can touch your child, the longing to rock your baby to sleep just one time.”
“All my friends getting pregnant, I started to feel the weight of bitterness set in. It was then I reached out to a support group. This is not a community women want to be a part of, but it is one that has each other’s back. It’s a sisterhood.”
“Imagine you’re two. You have no idea how to regulate your emotions. You’re startled by something you don’t understand, and instead of being offered comfort, you’re told to ‘get over it.'”
“I know you never pictured starting your family this way. You figured you’d have the surprise of those 2 pink lines and not the possibility of enduring so much for them.”
“Unless it happens to you or someone you know, you never notice. She inspired me to show gratitude for where I am now.”
“I would like to think it was from all the ‘I love you’s’ or the words of affirmation she recites every night. Or from a mom who never stopped advocating for her. But her happy ending is not from any of that. It’s from her.”
“But not as you knew them. Not as you remember the 5-year-old smiling at you or the 10-year-old on a skateboard trying to learn to balance, or the 16-year-old ignoring you.”
