‘I know having a baby changes your life, but there’s no way it can be THAT hard. I take care of babies for a living.’: Nurse pokes fun at herself after learning the trails of motherhood

“For years, I’d been caring for babies as a nurse. I would clock in to take care of a postpartum couplet for 12-ish hours and clock out. But you know what I hadn’t done? Stayed up all night with a baby for days on end. I hadn’t tried to invent new ways to soothe a screaming baby on ZERO mental reserves. I hadn’t worked a 24-hour on-call shift taking care of someone elses baby while my heart physically ached for my own.”

‘May your children please step out?’ The ultrasound tech seemed irritated. I was congratulated and given a death sentence all in one.’: Grieving mom knits miniature crochet hats for angel babies

“I pegged it as her being annoyed I had my kids with me at the hospital. I later realized she was just trying to keep it together. Smiles quickly faded as doctors, nurses, and specialists crowded in the room. I called my mom in the middle of her workday. ‘What’s going on? Is everyone okay?’ For the first time ever, I answered, ‘No.’ It was soul-crushing. My baby and I were both at risk.”

‘I wish I could sugar coat it. I watched your $7 iced coffee melt while you settled the score of sibling rivalry.’: Mom says, ‘what we do as moms is not for the faint of heart’

“We were dressed semi-the same. Yesterday’s smeared makeup, leggings and a 2-minute messy bun. I watched you grab your items, round up the kids, and walk out of the store relieved it was finally over. As I awaited our turn in line, I looked down at my arguing boys tugging at each other, causing a scene. I sipped on my half-melted Starbucks drink, put my dry shampoo and concealer on the counter, and smiled.”

‘If I knew what life had in store, I wouldn’t have spent 4 years with my ex-husband.’: Woman describes grief after fiancé’s sudden death, ‘Being with him was like finally getting a breath of fresh air’

“I beg every god I have ever heard of for this to all be a dream. I beg to forget coming home from work and finding the love of my life, lifeless on our couch. I wish I knew what life had in store. I would’ve done everything in my power to spend more time with him. I may not know where my life will go from here, but I do know I am not alone.”

‘Smoking when you have cancer? Are you insane? You might as well jump in front of a train!’ My first time going outside as a baldie was horrible.’: Woman with alopecia advocates for hair loss, ‘I am beautiful, with or without hair’

“I was known for my beautiful hair. It was one of my biggest ‘selling points.’ One day, I woke up and my hair started to fall out. ‘When you are almost bald, please come back and we will look at it again.’ Five days later, I was back. I went from having really beautiful hair to being a baldie with a wig.”

‘I’m a sucky wife some days. He gets the leftovers, life gets the main dish. Most nights, I’m asleep before he even graces the bedroom.’: Woman ‘thankful’ for husband who ‘doesn’t ask more of me than he knows I can give this season’

“I don’t have that same twinkle in my eye. I can no longer give him my full attention like I used to. My energy goes into playing hot wheels and throwing together loads of laundry. We share half-hearted conversations as we each scroll through stupid Facebook videos at the end of a long day. I pour so much of myself into every area of my life that my husband often gets the drips of what is left. It’s not fair. But I’m thankful.”

‘He was born looking like he’d been in a boxing match. His face was bruised, but no one seemed very concerned about it.’: Baby is born with microcephaly, ‘I truly see Grayson as the blessing he is’

“They have been unable to find a reason why this happened. I didn’t go out of the country while pregnant, I wasn’t exposed to Zika. He didn’t have a stroke in utero, and there is no gene to blame. We had no idea there was anything wrong before he was born. His whole life has been an emotional whirlwind. I wouldn’t have chosen this for him or for us, but I wouldn’t change it either.”

‘We placed my son in the back of a black SUV and said goodbye. I lost all hope. Just before I drank myself to death, I found out I was pregnant.’: Mom’s harrowing journey to recovery, ‘It’s up to you to break the cycle’

“Right after I turned 15, I met the absolute love of my life. Apparently, we were never really exclusive. In the summer going into my senior year, I got pregnant. I learned alcohol numbed the pain. After my daughter’s father left without telling me, I started partying more. He had no more fight in him. Days after his 4th birthday, we brought him home on hospice care.”

‘How was your trip?’ It broke my heart. Their schoolhouse was an open room separated by wooden dividers. The roof leaked every time it rained.’: Woman’s trip to Liberia was ‘eye-opening’ and ‘enlightening’

“This was the tough part for me. Thinking back to how I grew up, and seeing how drastically different it was from them, broke my heart. As a kid, I remember asking for updated decor for my room or a new, more comfortable bed to sleep in, and my parents working their butts off to make it a reality for me. But these kids didn’t have that.”

‘I’m positive you’re depressed, and that’s just from this one conversation.’ I froze inside.’: College student shocked by depression diagnosis, ‘It’s good to know people aren’t supposed to operate like this.’

“My family is very against medicine and doctors. My parents still don’t know I went to the doctor, or that I attend therapy regularly now. I don’t know what they would do, honestly. It’s ridiculous I need to hide going to the doctor, especially when it’s for my brain. My roommate was sharing how she couldn’t get out of bed. ‘It’s like someone placed you into a blank room, with no furniture or door or windows, and they expect you to thrive in it.’ It all clicked.”