“At 16 weeks, we were scheduled for our anatomy scan to find out if it was a boy or girl. On that day, not only did we find out that we were going to be having a boy, but we also found out that our baby had an anomaly, and we needed to see a specialist right away.”
‘Every week, they wanted me to abort. I was asked several times at every appointment. Did they get a prize for ‘selling’ me on an abortion? It sure seemed like it.’
‘Doctors told me, ‘He will look like a ‘normal’ newborn.’ The tech said, ‘They saw something wrong with the brain, right?’: Baby born with Factor V Leiden, ‘I am beyond proud of him’
“He had his hand on my shoulder when he told me my son’s condition has gotten worse. ‘Your sweet little boy needs you to stay strong’ he said. ‘He is still absolutely perfect.”
‘He found the one man in the mall he felt deserved a ‘thank you.’ A man wearing a Navy veteran’s hat.’: Proud mom watches from afar as son thanks elderly man for his service
“Without hesitation, he respectfully stood before that man who came 50 years before him, and told him he could rest easy, and that his generation would take it from there. All those sleepless nights, all the tears — magically disappeared. It suddenly became worth it.”
‘I found myself obsessing about alcohol and how much was too much while breastfeeding. Doesn’t everyone get so buzzed they can’t drive home?’: Mom grateful to enjoy family with ‘freedom from alcohol’
“I wish I could say that was the first time I woke up after a night of heavy drinking wondering who put the baby to sleep.”
‘He was yelling down the hospital halls, ‘Best day ever!’ As happy as I was for my son, I felt such sadness for my daughter. She was diagnosed first.’
“Both of our babies had cancer. Even before their diagnoses, they were inseparable, best friends. We sometimes joke, he couldn’t even let his sister go through brain cancer without him.”
‘It’s a cancer children are known to get. Your daughter has a tumor in her brain.’: Parents work to overcome daughter’s pediatric brain cancer diagnosis
“I looked at Abby and I told her, ‘You know those bad headaches and the vomiting you keep having?’ Abby looked at me and said, ‘Yes mom, they hurt.’ I told her, ‘It’s because you have something growing in there that shouldn’t be there. We have to get it out.’”
‘I couldn’t keep any food down. I had lost 25 pounds. Something serious was going on, I could feel it in my bones. And I was pregnant.’
“I remember saying to him that something must be brewing for us because our life had been too easy! The rest was a blur of grief and anger. I have a lifelong disease—one that will never be cured. One that was caused by IVF.”
‘And there’s the other one!’ she said. Another blob appeared. My husband and I were shocked. I broke out in a huge smile. ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!’
“I’d never seen my husband speechless until that moment. I remember being terrified, but I assumed everything would end up okay. These sorts of terrible things happened to ‘other people,’ and surely not me.”
‘I told her, ‘Your mom is here.’ I admit, her appearance is shocking to most people.’: Mom gives birth to daughter with severe birth defects
“The nurses started whispering I didn’t want to see my own daughter, that I was rejecting her. After hearing those comments, I got up. I touched her face. Sometimes it’s impossible to not be uncomfortable when people stare at us in the street, and see her as an alien. I dream they can see her like I do, as a beautiful little girl.”
‘This is an unhealthy pregnancy. There is no way he will make it.’ My husband and I didn’t believe them. We saw a baby kicking with a strong heartbeat. We have never felt more confused.’
“He was born the following morning, eyes still fused shut. His skin was translucent. It was the scariest thing I have ever seen. He was intubated right away. I refused. I knew he was strong, and I knew if they just gave him TIME he would get there, as he always had.”