LJ Herman is a former editor at Love What Matters and lives in Colorado. LJ is a concert, ticket and technology enthusiast. He has seen the Dave Mathews Band over one hundred times and counting.
‘Congrats!’ No! You don’t understand! I felt awful wishing I wasn’t pregnant. I had one test, and I took it. Life would be much easier.’: Pro-life mom adjusts attitude after surprise pregnancy
“He asked, ‘Are you?’ Softly I said, ‘I am.’ I was shaking, crying, and hyperventilating. The baby I wasn’t sure I even WANTED, might not survive. All while thinking, ‘Life would be so much easier without being pregnant.’ I don’t swear much, but I definitely swore in that moment.”
‘We won’t be needing any donuts after all.’ I didn’t yell. I didn’t make a scene. 2 miles down the road, I turned the van around.’: Man shares confrontation with exhausted worker, ‘I was rude’
“My flesh convinced me this was the time for me to be a patriot. I looked at her straight in the face and told her she was rude. I left. The same woman was standing there; I walked right up to her.”
‘Four a.m. Back again huh? I’m still recovering from last night. This is no longer my safe place.’: Mom of Autistic children pens letter to sleepless nights, ‘I’m not here to welcome you’
“I’m certain I will end up in an ambulance, perhaps in another 7-11 parking lot as my husband dials 911. The panic will take over and I will feel death is imminent. I’ll be left wondering, once again, if I’m dying. This is my prison.”
‘I’m happy for you, but worried. You think your baby won’t survive. You need to hit the pause button.’: Mom gives support to other pregnant women after loss, ‘The moment is yours’
“You’re happy about being pregnant, but also scared it could end. We know how swiftly things can go from life to death.”
Dear Parents, Remember Teachers Are Humans Too
“I am watching my teacher friends talk about making wills. These are not the conversations we normally have in July. We are not healthcare workers or first responders. And for the love of God, do not give them fever reducers so you can send them to school.”
‘I drove 11 hours with my babies. I just needed to feel my ‘home.’ I wanted to laugh together like the world isn’t burning.’: Mom talks about finding the positive during a pandemic
“I needed to taste my mama’s pancakes. I just needed to feel my ‘home,’ and not through the blue light of a screen. I didn’t realize what a release it would be to just pull up in a familiar driveway, knock on a door, and have it open wide.”
‘Just unhook our boy, and let us hold him.’ The feeling is indescribable. Things became a blur.’: Woman has baby at 23 weeks, shares grief journey, ‘He’s our little superhero’
‘I woke up feeling off. When I wiped, there was blood. He arrived so tiny, so transparent. We were terrified. I couldn’t cope with being away from him.”
‘No heartbeat,’ was what I sent. I couldn’t form other sentences, even with my fingers. I was numb.’: Woman shares miscarriage, encourages others not to suffer in silence
“My first phone call ended in, ‘What just happened? ‘It’s hard to swallow I’m not his first wife, and I will not have his first child. I was blind to it, because I didn’t want to read the sad stories.”
‘I’ve been an educator for years. I work for an amazing district. Yet, I have no clue what to do for my own kids. I’m struggling.’: Mom says, ‘Let’s teach kids lessons about life’
“I have a limited amount of energy, and the world doesn’t care. It’s time to stop endlessly worrying about details we have no control over instead, let’s teach our kids.”
‘We want an infant to seize. MY infant. How terrible is that? I hyperventilate into my husband’s chest.’: Mom loses baby with rare genetic mutation, ‘He was pure magic and love’
“And then she says it. IT. ‘I’m worried.’ I know what this means. This means things are not good. THIS IS NEVER GOOD. I refuse to let any person touch my sleeping baby.”