“I started bleeding between my periods and bleeding after sex. I went to see my General Practitioner and was told to come back when I was 25 for a smear. I thought that’s fine. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I had cancer.”
‘I was diagnosed with stage one cervical cancer at the age of 24. Because I was 24, I was not entitled to a free smear and the early cell changes in my cervix were not picked up.’
‘We could see past her imperfections, her peeling skin and bluish tint. To us, she was our perfect baby.’: Parents lose beautiful baby girl to congenital heart defect, ‘We will always have a guardian angel looking over us’
“We knew it was time to go. We wheeled Sophie down to a cooling room. She had so much brown, curly hair. She had her daddy’s nose and her mamma’s lips. Her perfect little lips. I wanted to kiss those lips every day.”
‘She makes it look easy.’ This picture was snapped by my boss in the middle of a work day at the office. I think more work places can be more flexible.’: Working mom advocates for babies in the workplace, ‘It can be done’
“I hope other employers will see this picture and see that it CAN be done.”
‘How old are you?’ I thought that was strange. ‘I’m 26,’ I told him. ‘Oh, you’re young. This could mean nothing.’: Mom says the ‘beauty far outweighs the challenges’ of daughter’s Down syndrome diagnosis
“The nurses started to really study Lucy. I could hear them say she was ‘really floppy, and was not moving her arms and legs.’ That her arms and legs would flop down to the table when the nurses would pick them up. Finally, she asked if she could speak candidly to us. I still feel those conflicting emotions every now and again, but my grateful and happy feelings far outweigh the fearful or sad ones.”
‘Picture 1 is at my grandmother’s funeral. Picture 2 is at my sister’s funeral. Wearing the exact same shirt, laying in the exact same kind of casket.’: Woman loses sister to addiction
“Little did I know when I took the first picture of my inappropriately hilarious, charismatic little sister, that it would end up having such a surreal meaning behind it just a few short months later…”
‘We are not a same-sex couple, but we do share a daughter.’: Dads celebrate co-parenting with impromptu photo shoot
“Not only did I gain a daughter, I gained a brother and a best friend.”
‘You know what’s crazy? Every time I leave the kids with my husband, I treat him like a babysitter. I make sure snacks are ready, I lay out pajamas, I ask him 3 times if he will be okay.’
“When he goes out, he says, ‘Okay babe, I’m going…’ and I say, ‘Okay’ and he leaves. THAT’S IT.”
‘DISGUSTING. I don’t know what husband would ever want to come home to that.’ That’s how someone recently responded to my postpartum body.’
“First of all, shame on her. If anything is disgusting, it is those words. YES, my body has changed quite dramatically since my pre-baby days, as you can see.”
‘I think the doctor is going to want to discuss things on the ultrasound with you.’: Parents overcome son’s dwarfism diagnosis
“The doctor told us he was confident our baby had either Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18. When I asked what that meant, he stoically stated that it meant our baby was not going to survive. He was PERFECT – and he was ours.”
‘We gave her a hard time. She frowned at us. Then said, ‘We’re doing it.’ Reluctantly we gathered around, goofing off and teasing the entire time. She stood right next to me.’
“Suddenly, I desperately needed to see her face again. I scrambled through boxes and boxes of family photos but she wasn’t in any of them.”