“I wake up to see nurses running around, pushing my crying husband into the corner. His face goes white. They’re pushing on my stomach, which was just cut open to birth our twin boys, to push out the blood. All I could think was, ‘How? I’m a healthy 25 year old with a 21-month-old and 2 newborns.’ In that moment, I knew I had to be strong.”
‘Does it hurt?’ I gave birth to beautiful twins, hemorrhaged, and then felt a lump on my breast.’: Mom mistakes Breast Cancer for ‘clogged milk duct,’ says ‘cancer may have started this fight, but I’ll finish it’
‘At 19, I got pregnant and relapsed. My son wasn’t enough to stop me. I continued to use behind his back. I went back to hiding it, and was caught by my son’s father.’
“My friend introduced me to a better way to get high: injecting. He left when I got pregnant. I looked at myself in the mirror. ‘What are you doing? You are worth so much more.’ I wanted my kids to have love, but first, I had to find it myself.”
‘You’re the only one who matters, do it for you. Blah Blah Blah.’ ‘If I hear one more phrase like this, I’m going to LOSE IT. What an absolute garbage thing to say.’
“Wanna know what’s wrong with the world? Crap like that. The word ‘self’ is at the beginning of every single buzz word right now, and it’s a problem. Self-care. Self-love. No, actually, you AREN’T the only one who matters.”
‘I heard two words: ‘fugitive felon.’ I caught my son’s eye. His shackles made my stomach flutter uncontrollably. His public defender smoothed her beige suit, and approached him.’
“The severely criminal charge was, in fact, a reference to my 24-year-old. I never imagined that term would apply to him. An unexpected call helped me through his transfer to prison. It had been weeks without contact when I answered the unfamiliar number. I fought back tears. He told me how much my son loved me.”
‘Motherhood is really tough.’ You’d think, ‘Well that’s crap.’ Birth was traumatic. As a child of sexual abuse, a traumatic birth can be very re-triggering. I didn’t count on that.’
“I expected to be handed my baby like I was Beyoncé in a floral garden and the heavens open up. Instead, I felt like a potato cake seagulls were fighting over, one stitching me up, one folding my boob like a hamburger to stuff in my baby’s mouth, and one pressing so hard on my stomach I thought she was going to touch my spine. Yep, didn’t count on that.”
‘I’m not attached to my baby. There, I said it.’
“It’s a harsh reality to admit, and I’m sure I’ll get a few gasps. But it’s the honest truth. And I know I’m not alone. I shrug off compliments from strangers about my pregnancy. This is my coping mechanism.”
‘I applied to 300+ jobs and didn’t get a single response. I was shocked. I had 10 years of experience in the industry. So, I did an experiment.’: Woman conducts experiment to raise awareness about workplace racial bias
“I created a fake job applicant and called her Bianca White. I kept the same employment history and educational background, but listed her as a white woman on the diversity questionnaire. The next day, I was stunned.”
‘It was playtime on the playground. My student looked anxious. I climbed to get closer to him, placed my foot on the rail and tumbled, hitting my head on a metal pole. I fell to the ground.’
“That’s it. That’s all it took. Five minutes to change my entire life.”
‘I told her, ‘I’m looking for a ‘suit.’ He’s an ex-felon, an addict, covered in ink, going through a divorce, currently unemployed. Yeah, No!’ We married just 3 months later.’
“I clicked into his profile. ‘Hi.’ His response was, ‘Who is this?’ He would disappear for long periods of time – sometimes years – and no one knew if he was alive or dead. Just 6 days after meeting him, I was on pins and needles. I finally called. When he answered, I could hear the difference in his voice. I’m telling you, he was magic.”
‘It’s okay. Get in your car and scream. It’s not going to make everything go away, but you deserve the release. Are the tears coming now? Good, don’t stop them.’
“This feels like the weight of the world because it’s about your entire world: your precious child. Every prenatal screen passed with flying colors. They tell you your child is healthy and whole, and now, they say that very same child has special needs. Here’s how you reclaim your power.”