“Before we left the hospital, we held our babies one last time. With tears streaming down our faces, we promised them we would survive this for them and live every day in their honor. I walked with them to the elevator where we were forced to part ways.”
“I used to bristle at the idea of being a stay-at-home mom living in the suburbs. After college I set up a life in the mountains, relishing my freedom as my friends began to be ‘tied down’ by kids. And yet here I am – a work from home, stay at home mom living in the suburbs.”
“I kept drinking to fit in; I didn’t want to feel left out. I was in denial.”
“I’m not grieving WHO he is. I grieve the parts which bring me to my knees in tears – watching what his little body has to endure.”
“We give up parts of ourselves because we think somehow it makes us the moms we’re ‘supposed’ to be. We give up things that interest us. Things we used to be good at, that filled our minds and brought us joy.”
“I admitted myself to a psychiatric facility. My husband went back to our newborn by himself, without paternity leave. I want to make sure other bipolar women don’t give birth without being prepared.”
“It took me 1 hr and 45 mins to do my makeup everyday. ‘No, it only affects your skin color and nothing else.’ People called me a cow, a Dalmatian, a spotted n-word… I say ‘never live in fear.'”
“I wish that others could view HIV as an immune system condition, easily manageable with antivirals. It didn’t bother me, but I knew it would most likely bother everyone around me.
“There is nothing I’d rather do than be a mother. But, it makes me more tired than anything else in the world.”
“I remember that day when I stood on the threshold of a new life. 14 years later, I celebrated 14 years clean.”
