“At 7 p.m. all the houses around the country breathe a sigh of relief at the end of the day when parenting ends and ‘me time’ begins. That is simply not the case for me. My kids go to bed late and wake up late. And that’s okay. Children are more capable at recognizing what they need than we give them credit for.”
‘My kids don’t have a bedtime. We sleep when we’re tired.’: Mom claims kids are ‘flourishing’ after getting rid of bedtimes
‘We only want 3 kids so that’s perfect.’ That’s me being naive again. ‘Okay, maybe it won’t happen like we had hoped.’: Couple suffers 4 miscarriages in 4 years, ’You never know how strong you are until you have to be’
“The doctor turned off the lights and we looked at the screen. I immediately saw two sacs. Twins? My husband didn’t know what he was looking at, so he didn’t realize until the doctor said it out loud. We both started crying and saw both little heartbeats flicker on the screen. We joked we were going to get our money’s worth from IVF by getting two babies for the price of one. I never thought a miscarriage would happen again. I was wrong. ‘I’m so sorry, I only see one heartbeat.’ I just had this gut feeling that we would lose the other baby.”
‘I was so scared to tell anyone and ruin things. I felt I was losing my best friend to another girl who was thin. My life was spiraling.’: Gender fluid individual finds self-love after battling anorexia
“I was the wrong sex. I kept telling myself the more weight I lost, the better it would get. I just hadn’t lost enough yet. I spent my free time counting calories and thinking up convincing lies if anyone were to ask. I changed who I was before I knew who I was, and I lost any identity I had.”
‘It’s time to consider a lung transplant.’ I was terrified of dying before I’d started living.’: Young woman with Cystic Fibrosis fights ‘to live the fullest life I can, in the time I am given to live it’
“My parents comfort me by saying, ‘We will get through this.’ I needed oxygen pumped into my nostrils at all times to breathe. I was afraid I was dying. I’ve seen videos where they interview elderly people on their deathbeds who are asked what they regret in life. Most people regret not having lived passionately, fulfilled and happy. I believed I would be one of them if I didn’t make a change.”
‘The tech lubed my belly. ‘OMG. There are SO MANY!’ My heart dropped. ‘So many what?!’: Mom births triplets after battling infertility, ‘It’s hard, but in the end it’s all worth it!’
“I struggled to eat because my belly always felt so full. Every day I assumed it would be the day we rush to the hospital, but days went by and somehow, I kept them in. When they pulled out the first baby, it felt like a 5 lb. weight was lifted off my lungs. ‘If you can get out of bed and into a wheelchair, you can go see the babies.’ Challenge accepted.”
‘This is clearly a case of anorexia. You’re a teenage ballerina refusing food.’ No one believed me. Every doctor gave up, except one.’: Woman with MALS misdiagnosed after 20 years
“I must’ve been tested for everything under the sun. ‘There’s nothing wrong with you.’ The harder I worked, the more stamina I lost and the weaker I got. They told me it was anxiety. They were doctors. They had to be right. At that point, I’d given up.”
‘I’m not going to sugar coat it. His file’s so big, no one will even look at it.’ He was pencil thin, eyes sunken deep. He was ours.’: Couple adopts 16-year-old runaway, ‘His story didn’t end how the world told him it would’
“She was dancing around the facts, and we could tell. She wanted to see if we would scare. He’d run from his previous placement, was failing all of his classes. She had no other place to turn. We asked to FaceTime him. We saw the emptiness in his eyes and the face of a kid who didn’t even know what hope was. He couldn’t make eye contact. His skin was covered with sores, his hands curled and tremored. He was 15. He was ours. He told us the drugs he’d done, the girls he’d been with, and the things he’d seen, and I couldn’t help but see the beginnings of a boy who would leave that past behind.”
‘I called him from a crackhouse. ‘I don’t know you very well, but if you don’t come for me, I’m going to die here.’: Woman overcomes lifelong battle with addiction, ‘I finally found how to love myself’
“I was invited to a party across the street. There were white rocks on the table. I asked, ‘What is that?’ They asked me if I wanted to try it. The second it went into my body, I was already addicted. In the middle of winter, I walked down the street with no shoes as blood ran down my legs. After ONE HIT, I went from start athlete to sticking needles in my arms in abandoned apartment buildings. I sold my body, my soul, and everything for the next one.”
‘Can you believe she feeds her kids all-purpose flour?’ The part every mother seems to experience is the guilt that consumes you when you just want to get it ‘right.’: Mom of young twins opens up about coping with ‘mom guilt’
“I still can’t always be and do everything. AND THAT’S OK! IT’S OK to need time for yourself. When a mother takes time for self-care, she’s replenishing her spirit to give more to her children. You cannot pour from an empty cup. The more you give yourself, the more you have to give.”
‘We have an emergency placement for a 3-week old baby boy.’ I stared at the baby who had been mine and cried in front of the social workers.’: Foster mom recalls pain of giving child back to his mother
“When little Rylan first showed up, I was so nervous. The moment I saw him, I felt attached to him. I was ready to be a mom. My heart grew for our baby too. I would sob every time I had to drop him off for visitation. The day he left was the hardest day of my life.”