“I finally gave in and made the call. I cut the doctor off. ‘My water just broke.’ Right there in the middle of my kitchen. His tone quickly changed. ‘Get to the hospital ASAP.’ We were snowed in, at the worst possible time. The woman at the desk asked me, ‘Are you pregnant?’ I wasn’t sure how to reply. Do I explain, ‘Yes, I am in labor with my dying son,’ or just let it alone? They wheeled me into the operating room. ‘Oh you just had a baby! Congratulations!’ Those words stung very deep.”
‘I have to tell you something. Your baby doesn’t have a skull.’ She squeezed my hand. Tears welled up in my eyes. I waited.’: Mom loses child to anencephaly diagnosis, ‘He was born smiling, so peaceful’
‘I have it, I just know it!’ I was gushing so heavily. I was supposed to be a mom of 3, but instead I was a bald patient fighting for my life.’: Woman’s molar pregnancy causes stage 4 cancer
“I started gushing so heavily, my entire bathroom was covered in blood. It looked like a murder scene. Was I having a miscarriage? ‘I’m sorry, but it’s Stage 4.’ I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I instantly broke into uncontrollable sobs.”
‘I feel like I’m dying.’ He started going downhill. He was diagnosed with the flu, and sent home to rest.’: Woman loses young husband to incurable colon cancer, ‘I know how much he loved me’
“We went on vacation to Disney World. I got the flu. Looking back, I’m so glad they had that time together. Just a girl and her dad, taking on the world. When we got home, he couldn’t walk without help. The ER doctor thought that he was having a reaction to Tamiflu. He looked just as shocked as I was and said, ‘It’s everywhere.'”
‘You should’ve used birth control’ was not something I was ever prepared for as a mom. This complete stranger looked at us in disgust.’: Mom of 10 turns the other cheek on bitter Instagram commenters
“This wasn’t the first time I was met with bitter and awful remarks at the size of my family. I took a deep breath and put my phone away for a while. I’ve grown a thick skin at the words people use to describe us. But this one stung. She didn’t know we lived in two tiny trailers in our backyard while our home was being rebuilt after the fire.”
‘Something isn’t right.’ I looked into my husband’s eyes. As I slowly shifted our son’s head, I saw an enlarged cheek.’: Mom ‘never knew’ about newborn’s lymphatic malformation until birth, ‘We were numb’
“Immediately our midwife called in the doctor. Within 3 minutes of meeting our precious Oliver, he was taken off my chest and over to the incubator. I didn’t know how to feel. My midwife was still trying to get me to stop bleeding as I struggled to see my baby. There was no time to process, research or pray. Here he was, our firstborn. We had no idea how to be parents, but then to throw in a special needs child, we were numb.”
‘Give me a high five!’ She didn’t want to. He leaned in close to my daughter. Uncomfortable, she refused to acknowledge him.’: Mom stresses importance of children’s comfort, ‘I want her to know no means NO’
“A man sat next to my daughter on the bus. It wasn’t busy, yet he chose the seat next to her. She stood up, moved over to me. ‘Aw, you don’t need to be scared. Cat got your tongue?’ He leaned in close. I felt her press into me. ‘She doesn’t want to talk,’ I explained firmly. ‘You should teach her some manners!’ he admonished me. He spluttered something along the lines of ‘back in my day.’ Everything about her body language screamed STOP, but he wasn’t listening.”
‘I’m beautiful, Mama!,’ she whispered, beaming. I found myself in tears as I watched my baby girl twirl.’: Mom learns lesson from her little girl’s winter coat, ‘She didn’t need affirmation’
“We fluffed up the coat and zipped it up snugly on her petite frame. She twirled, danced and giggled inside the purple puffs. Then she stopped to look up at me, so sweet, so pure. It struck me that she couldn’t actually see herself. She wasn’t looking in a mirror. I felt the tears pooling behind my eyes.”
‘I’m leaving for the Army! I can’t be pregnant!’ I just turned 18. I had no clue who my baby’s father was.’: Teen mom has ‘beautiful’ open adoption, ‘They burst into tears when they saw her. I knew I’d made the right choice’
“It was 3 days after my 18th birthday, I stood in my bathroom screaming in horror. I was pregnant. Of all the stunts I’d pulled in my teenage years, this was by far the worst. What was even worse… I didn’t know if the baby was my boyfriend’s, or if I’d gotten pregnant by a guy I had a fling with in school. I hadn’t told my boyfriend there was a chance the baby wasn’t his. I was so ashamed I could hardly look him in the eyes.”
‘Oh thank God, one surgery and he’ll be back to normal.’ My dad was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. He was going to survive, no doubt in my mind.’: Daughter reflects on holidays without your dad
”A feeling came over me that my dad would not pass away if I was there. I was his little girl and he was my hero. 15 minutes later, he was gone. The first Christmas without my dad, I remember thinking, ‘Just smile.’ I also carried a water bottle with me everywhere, because my dad had once told me as a child, ‘if you drink water, you will calm down and not cry.”
‘His sperm is not swimming where it should.’ I dreaded telling my husband. Nervous tears fell from my eyes.’: Couple raise awareness about infertility after struggling to conceive naturally
“I instantly felt guilt seep in as I recalled telling my husband he had ‘nothing to worry about.’ After all, I was the one with the fertility issues. Others put their foot in our mouths with unwanted advice: ‘Just relax.’ ‘There’s no rush.’ I sat on the toilet lid, uncovered my test. I felt a flood of confusion wash over me. ‘Call the clinic!’ I broke down to my husband. I was at my wits end.”
‘Mom! That’s not a book!’ She looked confused. I stared for half a second before dying laughing.’: Woman shares fond Christmas memory of late mother, ‘this season has enough heartache’
“One year, I made a wish list of a few things I wanted, one of which I never received for Christmas. I didn’t ask about it though, because that’s ungrateful. But my mom brought it up. After all the hullabaloo was over, she came over and hugged me.”
‘I find you arrogant, rude, disrespectful and jealous.’ A workplace conflict left me hurt. She didn’t believe a single word.’: Woman learns of autism diagnosis at 23, ‘I finally learned the truth. I am not broken’
“Teachers would say, ‘Lauren is very polite, gifted, such a cute little girl.’ My peers started to reject me. My school life was marred by rumors and taunts. I began to tell myself, ‘There is something wrong with you.’ I could never remember to bathe. I once went half a year without washing my hair. At age 23, I finally learned the truth. I am autistic. I am not broken.”
‘I am OK being single.’ I don’t ‘husband hunt.’ I didn’t grow up learning kids are a blessing.:’ Woman celebrates being single after growing up in divorced family, ‘a relationship is not where happiness begins or ends’
“I wasn’t going to have kids with some deadbeat guy just to check ‘things women are supposed to do’ off the list. I know some of you silently judge me. I’ve become the spinster I worried about becoming, but this year I started to love her; truly, madly and deeply. I think you envy the freedom single people have.”
‘He swept up my child, shaking her up and down. ‘LET GO!’ When it comes to my daughter, I have no tolerance.’: Dad stresses consent after strange encounter, ‘Women and kids are not all access’
“I turned the corner with my shopping cart. Suddenly a man appears in my peripheral. ‘I’m just holding her, relax.’ This STRANGER starts walking down the aisle with my baby. It all happened in a fraction of a second.”
‘Why would I want my babies to use the diaper as a toilet?’ Did I mention I hate cleaning up poopy diapers?’: The method we used to ditch diapers (and avoid potty training) with all 5 of our babies
“A friend posted that they didn’t use diapers – they simply held their baby over the toilet or ground, from birth, and avoided poopy diapers. I thought, ‘I’m in! Where do I sign up?’ When I discovered I was pregnant, I bought a book that explained this phenomenon that could save me from All. The. Mess. It just felt right. On the day of his birth, my son started wriggling and bearing down. I was handed a small potty and held him over it. He did that first nasty poop in the potty, and I can assure you I never looked back.”
‘Could you be pregnant?’ I mean yeah, I guess I could be, but I’m pretty sure I’m not. I decided to put ‘Yes’ for the answer.’: Woman gets surprise pregnancy news at dentist
“‘I need you to go take this test to make sure. If you are pregnant, we can’t do the x-rays.’ I thought this was crazy, went into the bathroom, and pee’d on the stick. She grabbed it, looked at me, and called for another lady to come look. The other lady looked at me. ‘Yeah, we aren’t doing the appointment.’ I walked out, called my boyfriend and told him they wouldn’t finish my appointment. He was confused.”
‘I read the books, watched the shows and talked to the seasoned moms. I realized a common thread. Kids are who they are, they all respond and act differently.’: Mom of 7 discusses ever-changing role of motherhood, what she’s learned over the years
“I want to raise good people, not perfect ones. I’m certainly not perfect so why should I expect my children to be? I use my own mistakes as an example for them. I apologize when I speak harshly and tell them even moms mess up. I want them to know if you are working on yourself and always trying to learn from the mistakes you make, that’s all that truly matters.”
‘You deserve to be with someone who wants to make you a dad.’ My husband wanted children more than any man I’d ever known. I had to decide.’: Woman’s struggle through marriage and motherhood
“What if I don’t want to be a mom? What happens next? Is it time to let my husband go? My entire adult life I’ve gone back and forth about whether I want children.”
‘The surgeon ran a plumbing snake through my insides. We were left haggard, anxious. It was our first wedding anniversary.’: Woman learns of infertility after infection, chooses adoption instead of IVF, ‘Like magic, it all became clear’
“At 24, I’d been married to Peter less than a year. ‘Are you alright?’ I must’ve looked flush. My knees gave out. As I stepped toward the waiting room, time slowed to a crawl. Heaving sobs came next. ‘Oh honey,’ she whispered. ‘I am so sorry.’”
‘I see you trying to hold me together. I see you sitting there at appointments looking at your feet. I see your fear. I see you. I see you blaming yourself for my pain. I see your pain.’: Wife documents IVF journey alongside husband
“I see you making sacrifices for me and for our future family. I see you being so open to ‘alternative methods’ so we can get our happily ever after. I see you being open to anything and letting me decide what we should do with my body. I see you willing to make changes to our path in life. I see you.”
‘If you’d asked me back then if I was a bully, I would’ve given you an emphatic, ‘No Way! As if?’: Woman realizes she was a ‘background bully’ who ‘stirred the pot’
“I never, ever said explicitly mean things to anyone’s face. I only said it because I felt sorry for you! You know the kind – those Gretchen Weiner-type girls who feigned shock when one of their friends said something hurtful, but then giggled about it anyway.”
‘I missed my daughter’s honor roll assembly so I could go for a walk and burn off anxiety. It’s not selfish, it’s called self-love.’: Woman responds to mom shamers, ‘taking care of ourselves IS taking care of our kids’
“I was struggling deep with anxiety and had a long work day ahead of me. I needed a break. The next day, several moms at school asked me why I wasn’t there with my husband and my mom who was in town visiting. Women were judging me. So much so that they felt the need to privately message me to insult me.”
‘I knew when it was time you would rise to the occasion and take care of her and of us. And you did.’ Hearing that made it all worth it.’: Nurse reflects on how she has to be a nurse, even when it’s for family
“The night my mother-in-law passed away, everyone was a mess. Emotional, tired and grieving that she had been suffering so long. Even after being a nurse for 15 years, I wasn’t prepared for how it would feel to be the family member in the nursing role. On the way home, I wasn’t ok.”
‘I was embarrassed and ashamed. I spent 15 years pretending I was a happy, carefree extrovert without a problem in the world.’: Woman faces her trauma, finds strength empowering others
“This is when I discovered my calling was to be a coach for women who have experienced trauma. Women who don’t believe in themselves and don’t think they are deserving of the happiness they desperately desire. I want people to know they aren’t alone, they can put themselves back together after being broken, and their biggest pain can actually be their biggest strength. Everyone is deserving of the life they dream for themselves.”
‘I’ve really dropped the ball this holiday season. No family photos. No holiday cards. I haven’t even wrapped presents.’: Mom realizes what’s most important for her family this holiday season
“I never mailed the kids’ lists to Santa. We have yet to make a gingerbread house or watch ‘It’s A Wonderful Life.’ It feels like I’ve dropped the ball, it has broken and shattered, and like I don’t even have the energy or desire to clean up the mess.”