“In one night, I found out I weighed over 400 pounds. I also found out I was pregnant and losing a baby in one breath. That moment was a severe wake-up call I needed to change my life. I didn’t realize how much my husband’s infidelity had affected me until I stepped on that scale. I left him without a car and without a plan.”
‘He had a stranger over at my house where my kids sleep. My entire 10-year marriage was a lie.’: Woman credits husband’s infidelity with life- changing weight loss
‘It can’t be real. This happens to other families, not mine.’ He positioned himself on top of a mountain and texted a note. I couldn’t breathe. I fell to the floor.’: Woman loses brother to suicide, ‘He was my best friend’
“I was home alone with my 9-month-old son. With helicopters in the air, my parents, his friends, and police on the side of the road, I got the call. I was so afraid of saying something to upset him. I just wanted my brother back. I prayed for him to walk down.”
‘Wait. Are those police lights? I walked closer to the intersection. ‘What happened?’ I grabbed an officer. ‘Ma’am. What is your name?’ I answered. Silence.’
“He grabbed the remote and asked if I wanted something to eat. I said I could throw something in the oven for us. However, he wanted something from the store. ‘Fine, but just take the car, boo,’ I whined. ‘Babe, let me be a man,’ he smirked as he closed the door. It shouldn’t have taken him more than 30 minutes. Where was he?”
‘Please, I’ll give anything.’ Hands shaking, I glanced down at the test. Tears silently rolled. When we prepared for bed, my phone started ringing. My stomach dropped. She’d never called before.’
“I felt like everyone was passing me by and I was stagnant. I had no control over my body. Then I got a message that changed my life forever. I literally screamed. I was hopeful, excited, optimistic. Slowly, red flags started popping up.”
I Reunited With My Birth Parents After 18 Years, And It Was Absolutely Magical
“Since that meeting almost two years ago, my relationship with my birth parents and siblings has grown into something I treasure more than ever.”
‘He lit my insides on fire. So, I did it. I married him. My body signaled that something was off. I pegged it as nerves. I didn’t know about the pools of women.’: Woman breaks free from abusive relationship
“It was the same with everyone. The same love songs, the same pet names, the same date night spots, the same EVERYTHING. In a ten-day period, he cheated with 3 people. He played it off as him being drunk and stupid. I believed it at the time. I didn’t tell friends or family. ‘If I can’t even make a marriage work, what else will I fail at?!’ I kept it private, until things began to boil.”
‘WHAT!? Going from no kids to 2 under 2 in 1 day?! What on earth were we getting ourselves into?! My husband and I looked at each other. ‘WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?’
“The docs were certain I had mono. I kept thinking to myself, ‘There’s no way this is happening again’. The next day I get an urgent call. The clinic frantically demanded for me to be at the hospital ASAP for an ultrasound. I literally laughed. ‘I’m not pregnant, you must have called the wrong patient.’”
‘I was cussed out by parents who wanted to attend field trips but missed the THREE notes that went home. When they did attend, they sat on their phone. The filter comes off now.’: Teacher decides to leave her profession
“I’ve had parents tell me I’m not allowed to tell their child ‘no.’ Watching them come in… dirty clothes… chaos at home… and knowing they need more than you can give them in a classroom of 21, with less and less support, multiple languages spoken, several different disabilities… it breaks you.”
‘I gave birth to my sixth baby just six weeks ago. I have porn star-sized boobs as my milk finally came in. I’m wondering if I’ll ever look ‘normal down there’ ever again.’
“We all are so well prepared through pregnancy. Now, it feel like I’m giving birth all over again when I poop. I’m wearing mesh panties and bought more when I ran out of my hospital stash.”
‘I know you’re a boy,’ she whispered, kissing my forehead. I’d be able to start my senior year comfortable with myself.’: High school senior comes out as trans, now living as authentic self
“My eyes widened. I hid who I was and planned to never tell a soul. I quietly started my visits at a clinic in Boston, and I was prescribed testosterone during the summer. This was a huge moment for me! This led to a scary leap. I had to publicly come out as transgender to my peers.”
‘Our son fell. I noticed red tracking down his vein. I then checked his elbow – the same. I felt a bit silly, but when the doctor saw it, he wanted him in ASAP.’: Mom warns other parents after child gets sepsis from wound
“My husband convinced me. The only reason I knew is because it had happened to a friend’s son 2 years ago. It isn’t something you can ‘leave’ until Monday when the doctors are back in the office.”
‘The only photos to be found of my husband were on a park bench or in bed. He couldn’t even drive the children or stay alone with them anymore.’: Mom thankful for husband after cardiac arrest, broken back, ‘He shows up for us’
“Duties that were once his, were now solely mine. I struggled to keep a 6-week and 2-year old alive. All I saw was a father tagging along, bringing much less value to his family than he once did before.”
‘I don’t want to sit in the middle!,’ he screamed. The neighbors were staring. I never knew so much anger existed in me until I became a mom. It is terrifying. I don’t even recognize myself.’
“‘I’m going to hold your legs down until you calm down because you’re hurting me when you kick.’ Our neighbors were still watching. It’s shameful, embarrassing, and humiliating. He screamed and kicked and fought. I could feel my anxiety creeping in.”
‘I was lying on a ‘friend’s’ kitchen floor. Standing over me were paramedics and a police officer. ‘You’re lucky we’re not busy today,’ the cop looked at me and said. I lied to everyone.’
“I met someone. The wrong someone. A friend. Or so I thought. I was catapulted into a world no one should experience. It was raining. The sky was black and the storm wasn’t letting up. I felt this strong feeling of evil hanging around me that day. My ‘friend’ was with me. I looked in the mirror and at that point, I knew.”
‘Come feel this,’ the doctor said. I put my hand on her belly. My heart sank.’: Mom recalls daughter’s rare cancer diagnosis after thinking it was just an ‘umbilical cord hernia’
“I snapped the traditional well-check picture of my daughter sitting on the exam table, bragging about our healthy girl. We were about to walk out with a good bill of health when the doctor asked me if I had any concerns. That’s when I remembered her large tummy. He laid her down on the exam table, and his face quickly changed to reflect my concern.”
‘Our sweet boy became a wild animal overnight. I hid the kitchen knives, afraid of what he might do when he lost control.’: Son diagnosed with PANDAS disorder
“The panic attacks soon turned into rages. His hands turned into claws, his face changed and looked evil. He was foaming at the mouth, hitting the glass oven door over and over, and growling. I wrapped my body around his and we sat on the kitchen floor as he thrashed and growled, tears running down my face as I held him.”
‘I asked, ‘Are you okay?’ We were greeted with one line. ‘Twins. Congrats.’ We immediately hopped on a plane. We were told to spike their bottles with caffeine. There were roadblocks.’
“We found a surrogate. The doctor started to gush about how lovely she was! ‘You have to woo her and make sure she picks you guys!’ Communication was sparse. We were constantly checking emails. I’ll never forget my husband kneeling as he opened one eagerly awaited message. He stared at the computer screen, speechless.”
‘My husband bungee corded my kid to the backseat. Not kidding. She was 3. I honestly didn’t believe it. But there she was, strapped in a makeshift five-point harness.’: Widow hilariously recalls memory of late husband
“He let me sleep in. Imagine my shock waking up at 10 a.m. to not a sound in the world. Not the pitter patter of little feet, not the tugging of my sheets followed by, ‘mom, mom, mom,’ not the sounds of cartoons. I yawned, threw my hair into a messy bun and made my way downstairs thinking I would find an empty house or sleeping angel children. I didn’t find that.”
‘I rose as normal. ‘Let me wake her and change her diaper.’ I dropped to my knees. ‘911, What’s your emergency?’ I screamed, ‘My baby’s not breathing!’: Mom loses baby to SIDS, ‘My princess watches over me’
“I desperately breathe air into my child. Medics rush in. Suddenly, I hear voices, machines. I’m listening for that cry I know. Everything pauses. They wrap her in a soft white blanket, slowly walking towards me as if presenting a gift. I push back, pleading with tears. I beg the doctors to try just a little longer.”
‘I just have to ask, do you love Sage as much as you love Ira? I know you say you do, but is it true?’ We sat on my living room floor when she asked me this. I nodded. ‘I absolutely do.’
“I loved you fiercely far before I knew you. She sat on that bed holding you, her tears falling onto your perfect self as she fed you one last time. The room’s air was thick as molasses. And then, she placed you in my arms, and I melted all over the floor.”
‘My miscarriage crushed me. I screamed and cried in the nursery closet, clenching my son’s wubby so hard my palms bled. I was inconsolable.’
“Now you’re left exhausted, thinking what the hell did we just do? Am I an imposter because I failed? I flipped my mindset. It felt good to dive into something again, which started with ripping up all the carpet in the upstairs of our house. There was no sense in avoiding a room meant for a nursery when I could change it into a usable space.”
‘A co-worker came up to me. ‘Half your face looks a little strange.’ I tried to respond, but couldn’t move my mouth to speak. My first thought was, ‘Am I having a stroke?’: Woman shares trigeminal neuralgia diagnosis journey
“I rushed to the hospital. The pain was so bad I literally thought, ‘There’s no possible way I am going to survive this. A human being can’t survive this much pain.’ I was prescribed a copious amount of medication. When would I stop needing it? Never. I thought I would never get a chance to be a mom, but I didn’t want to give up my dream.”
‘She sat next to her dying father, her best friend, and grabbed his hand. She whispered in his ear it was ‘ok to go.’ She would be alright. He could stop being in pain.’
“With her hair in a ponytail and her face stained with tears, she pet his hair while he gasped for air. She put a cross in his hand when she knew he was never coming back. She kissed him on the cheek and uttered ‘goodbye.’ She sat with him for an hour after he stopped breathing, making sure he was not alone.”
‘Why me? How did I get black and white twins? I waited for someone to tell me there was a mixup.’: Mom births twins after 8-year fertility struggle, one with albinism, ‘She’s perfect to me in every way’
“The first time I saw her, I wondered if the nurse was handing me my baby, or someone else’s. I waited a few seconds for someone to tell me there was a mix up. ‘She’s so beautiful,’ the nurse said. My husband was also in denial, but reality was staring us in the face.”
‘My career failed. Everyone kept asking, ‘What are you doing these days?’ I’d just want to run away. I didn’t know what to tell them. I had no answers.’
“All my friends who had been doing nothing post-college, partying and vacationing, now all had good positions and were making good money. I thought, ‘Where am I? What am I doing? What am I going to do next?’ Slowly, I just became too comfortable avoiding people and doing absolutely nothing.”