‘Hearing the little baby I was growing inside me was already going through so much made me feel like the biggest failure.”
I remember looking at the doctor and demanding him to leave the room. ‘Wow Crystal you can’t even grow a baby correctly.’ I looked at my husband and we both began to cry. ‘WHY MY BABY?’
‘Every night, I put a sign on our door that read, ‘Come in and kiss me. I didn’t cheat on you.’ Almost immediately after we were married, the abuse began.’: Woman overcomes domestic abuse
“I thought I hit the boyfriend jackpot, my knight in shining armor. He wined and dined me and spoiled me rotten. Within 2 weeks he decided it was unbearable to be away from me and was going to pack up his life and everything in it to be with me.”
‘A nurse grabbed my hand. ‘I’m right here,’ she squeezed tightly and said. I remember looking around the room to find some sense of peace.’
“When they discovered my diagnosis, my hospital room erupted into chaos as nurses rushed in. I remember being filled with fear as they wheeled me away. But when the world seemed so dark, our best friends would step in and help bring us back into the light.”
‘What the heck?’ I was staring at a naked picture of myself on my father’s computer.’: Sexual assault survivor speaks out parental abuse, ‘I finally have power again’
“The camera was planted upside down and was sitting on a brown bookcase, hiding between books in my room. My thoughts began to race.”
‘Ten weeks. That’s when I found out I was having twins. 11 weeks, when I was guaranteed I wouldn’t be having twins. ‘Baby B is not going to make it. You’re putting Baby A in serious jeopardy.’
“They must’ve thought I was crazy. I didn’t cry. I didn’t even hardly react, other than to adamantly stick with my gut. I was pregnant with 2 LIVING babies. I sure as hell wasn’t going to just cut the cord because it sounded like a good idea.”
‘My kid’s school had a lockdown. I saw this on her arm. ‘In case the bad guy got to us and I got killed, you and daddy would know I love you.’: Mom shares daughter’s heartbreaking reaction to school lockdown
“I cried as I watched her innocence get stolen away. To know my 7-year-old was put in a position to think that thought is absolutely gut wrenching and it’s killing me inside.”
‘Been trying a little experiment for the last 2 weeks, putting breast milk on one side of my stomach. I can’t believe the difference!’
“I rub it into my tummy while nursing and lather it on so it’s almost dripping off. I let it air dry and just pull my shirt over after. I put it on every time I nurse.”
‘I was head over heels for a man with ‘a past.’ We were an on-and-off again couple, and I thought sex would fix what was broken. I gave in.’: Young ‘sterile’ woman gets pregnant with ‘wrong man’, re-discovers love
“This decision didn’t fix anything. Instead, it all came crashing down. When he moved and we agreed to no longer see each other, I found out I was pregnant. I was completely in shock. I was told I would not be able to have children naturally. But there I was, alone, scared, unwed, and pregnant.”
‘I’m trapped. I wonder how many times I can grimace when he touches my arm or roll away from him in bed before he quits trying altogether.’: Woman recounts her relationship struggles
“I don’t want to be touched. I don’t think about my fairy tales anymore; I just read them on repeat to my children. I’m in survival mode.”
‘I am SICKENED this phrase is on a lunch box.’: Mom urges ‘girls, you are beautiful, worthy, and whole beings’
“See this? This is a picture I snapped today of a little girl’s lunchbox I saw for sale. We wonder, ‘Why do our girls worry so much about their bodies so young?’ THIS. This is the reason why.”