“We also noticed he had a bruise on his back from one of his Nerf gun battles that wasn’t going away. Nothing crazy, nothing that made us extremely worried at the time.”
‘It was the middle of the night when I got this call. I sat in the basement, frozen and in shock. Please tell me this is just some virus that will go away next week.’
‘She was always the star student. When the flapping started, we assumed even her excitement was advanced. Everyone thought I was nuts.’: Autistic daughter changes mom’s perspective on autism
“At Easter dinner when Campbell piped up, ‘We’re about to enjoy a beautiful feast with our friends and family,’ I was met with many an eye roll—this girl was fine. But only I knew that line was taken right from a book we had read months ago. You see, Campbell was a tricky one.”
‘There are only 34 cases ever on record. He is as rare as they come.’: Mother shares son’s harrowing journey with congenital heart disease
“I was anxious to make my way to the NICU. I walked into the very room our daughter had been in and instantly knew our situation was much different than before. The doctor didn’t waste a minute of my time trying to sugar coat the situation.”
‘They can’t do anything else? That’s the only option?,’ people asked me shocked, wide eyes. Making the decision to saw off a part of my body wasn’t something I planned on.’
“I took a bad tumble off a horse when I was a kid. My greatest fear was that I’d awaken from anesthesia – and realize with sinking certainty I had made a horrible, irreversible mistake.”
‘I remember the doctor asking, ‘Where’s your husband? He’s not going to be here to pick you up after you faint when I tell you, you’re having twins?!’ ’Wait, WHAT?!’: Mom has triplets after IVF
“Then we saw it up on the ultrasound screen – clear as day. THREE babies. She told us to consider reduction, a thought we couldn’t imagine. I couldn’t believe we had gone through so much to get to this point, and now a doctor was telling me to throw it all away.”
‘I remember that day so vividly. You called me, asked me very calmly to come home so we could talk as a family. I knew.’
“I ran to my best friend down the street, collapsed in their driveway, and part of me never got up.”
‘I dropped my baby into the water and flushed. My baby was gone. It was too late.’: Woman overcomes miscarriages to have beautiful rainbow baby
“It was 2 a.m. I needed to pee. I got out of the bed and knew something wasn’t right. I sat down on the toilet and I felt it. It slipped right out. I didn’t want to look. I knew what had just happened. I had to look. I reached down and picked my baby up out of the water. I panicked.”
‘It appears I have everything under control and life is a breeze. That ‘breeze’ is actually 80 mph hurricane winds, and I’m hanging on for dear life.’
“I cry. I WEEP into my cold coffee. The mom guilt consumes me and I feel like I’m failing my kids. I was also unaware that hemorrhoids can last for months at a time. I’m scared.”
‘I saw you hand over your note with sadness in your eyes. You looked at the pharmacist with fear as she read your details. You replied with the most defeated ‘no’ I’d ever heard.’
“I saw your knuckles turn white on that stroller handle bar. I saw you look down on your baby while it was starting to stir. ‘Please don’t cry,’ you whispered.”
‘It sounded like a freight train coming towards us. I swung open my door and began to run. When I finally broke out of the fire, I saw my crewmates were not behind me. I woke up a month later.’
“I ran up to one of the fire engines to look at myself in the mirror, but a firefighter pulled me away. They wouldn’t allow me to look at myself. I knew right then it must have been bad. Soon after that, it all went black.”
‘Jenn, you can do this!’ He was admitted to the hospital just 3 months before my due date.’: Husband supports wife through twin pregnancy despite cancer battle
“Our goal for that final month was to help him walk longer distances and get his strength up so that he could be at the birth. Even though he was sick and I knew that him dying was a possibility, I never thought it would actually happen.”
‘It’s all in your head. You just need to be happier. Go take a walk, be a ‘normal’ 20-something.’ I had just woken up, still bleary-eyed from anesthesia. These were the words my doctor said to me.’
“I laid there and sobbed, how could it have come back normal? After hearing enough doctors downplay my symptoms, watching them roll their eyes as they told me it was ‘just gas,’ I stopped telling anyone how miserable I was.”
‘Do you want to meet your son Miller?’ It hit me in that moment, this baby is not yet mine. He is hers.’: Family adopts child they had been praying for after learning he was being born ‘tomorrow’
“I threw her on speaker and texted Ben 50 times in 2 minutes. ‘ANSWER YOUR PHONE! ADOPTION CALL!’ We nervously, softly knocked on the door. She got up, kissing him, and we all started to cry. I tried to stay strong as she sobbed in my arms. It was time for us to go. We had to push our son out of the room and down the hall, away from her. I lost it.”
‘For the first 3 months everything seemed fine. At 4 months old, we noticed her soft spot looked different and started bulging from her head. Then, our lives changed forever.’
“One morning, Ellie woke up in extreme pain. We rushed to the ER. The MRI would give us news that would completely devastate our family. It never gets easier to watch her in pain when all you want to do, in your job as a mom, is take their pain away.”
‘I’m worried about him getting this surgery. He doesn’t need to do this.’ I remember them telling me, ‘Just focus on your breathing,’ as they put the mask on me, and I was put to sleep.’
“The doctors said to my mother, ‘It’s time for you to say your goodbyes, there is really nothing else we could do.’ Up until this point, my mom had always been on top of the plans, making sure things were done perfectly. But now in the chaos, she was disorganized and unsure of everything. Then, a miracle happened.”
‘Every couple has fought on the way to a party, only to step out of the car smiling. We post pictures of our kids melting down, but never share photos crying after an ugly argument.’
“We have a wonderful marriage. But we also have bad days where I dread the sound of his car pulling into the garage. When I’m really mad, I imagine what my life would look like as a single mom. This is normal. It’s OK.”
To The Man Who Made Fun Of My Weight, I’m Only Sorry I Couldn’t Take Up More Space
“I think we have all said something unkind at one time or another, and this is just a reminder that we do not know the battles people are fighting and that we just need to be a little kinder to each other.”
‘A boy said I shouldn’t wear shirts that show my scars. He said they are scary,’ she sobbed.’: Mom teaches daughter in cancer remission self-worth with beautiful photo shoot
“On a rushed morning, I threw her a tank top and asked her to get dressed. She quietly asked me for a different shirt. Oblivious and in a hurry, I said, ‘Why? You love that one. Just put it on, we gotta go.’ Tears formed in her eyes.”
Society Needs To Stop Judging Postpartum Bodies So Harshly
“Imagine if we just spent time appreciating all that we can do, the amazing life-creating vessels that we are, instead of trying to scrub, wrap and hide all that we have done.”
‘He said, ‘I know she can’t go home,’ and was quiet the rest of the ride. He sat beside her, so happy to see her, saying how much he loved her.’: Woman shares love story between parents as mom battles dementia
“She was staring straight ahead. That didn’t matter to him. He was back with his Mary Jane. I noticed it was quiet. I look over and Dad is laying on her shoulder sobbing – not crying, sobbing. After my tears started, I went in their bathroom wanted to scream. So these are the golden years?”
‘He found out I’d been using drugs again, took the kids and left. I was devastated. I begged him to come back, but he was done.’: Woman grateful for husband’s support and forgiveness
“I had a miscarriage. Thus began my spiral downward. I was chasing the numbness. I would hide packets of pills around the house anywhere I could, on shelves behind clothes, in boxes, drawers, cupboards, even in my kids’ rooms – anywhere.”
‘I told him I wanted his ring. He must’ve had enough, because he handed it to me. Oh, hell no. I did what every non-reasonable, pregnant, insane woman would do.’
“I followed him. Oh yes, I waddled after him, appalled he would give me his ring, even though I demanded it. By the time I caught up to him, he was already in his car. So, I did the next most non-reasonable thing I could think of. I THREW it.”
‘Will you adopt my baby?’ I received a message from someone from my past. Of all the people in the world, they chose us.’: After battling Leukemia, 3 miscarriages, couple adopt 2 miracle babies
“At 19-years-old, I had fallen in love with my childhood boyfriend who was dying. He overcame a 10% chance of survival and he swears it’s because I loved him through it. Cancer stripped us of our ability to have kids without medical assistance. After we lost our third baby through IVF, we knew what God was calling us to.”
‘My hair became dull and greasy, falling out in clumps in the shower. I was on the pill for 6 years. It wasn’t until going off the pill I realized what it was doing to me.’
“If a period can be described as glorious, it was.”
‘Royce was playing on the bed. He fell. A stranger was doing CPR on our perfect 20-month-old nephew’: Family keeps faith after losing nephew from tragic fall
“My husband always says, ‘It’s going to be okay.’ He dropped to his knees. I could hear the sirens. I grabbed and hugged my sister-in-law, trying to face her away from the horror. We were all in the worst kind of shock. This was not happening, not Royce. It could not be our perfect Royce.”