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.
‘I took out the trash to ‘investigate’ our new neighbors. We watched the dreaded moving truck from the second-story window.’: Two moms find new friendship during quarantine
“While I was loading my kids into our car, the other kids made eye contact. They stood there, silently staring like it was some sort of old western stare-off. The dreaded moving truck was parked outside. In a matter of a month, our children’s childhood changed for the better.”
‘I took him to the ER. His circumcision didn’t look to be healing right. We had a gut feeling something was wrong.’: Parents perplexed after newborn’s near-death scare, ‘He’s a fighter’
“His temperature wouldn’t come above 95 degrees. The doctor said it was ‘fine’ and set to discharge us with a prescription for antibiotic cream. We had a gut feeling something was wrong. The doctor was white as a sheet. ‘This test can’t be right.’ Life stopped when he was 5 days old.”
‘I was told recently that I had ‘let myself go.’ I gave birth 18 months ago. My body is not an apology.’: Mom responds to body shamers, ‘Wear the sweatpants and the yoga pants and let yourself go!’
“I’ve gained some weight, my eyebrows are shaggy, and I’ve got a couple of chin hairs. And I won’t apologize for it.”
‘I’ve watched my dad’s eyes glaze over as he called forth a lifetime of memories that didn’t require a photo to enjoy.’: Woman warns, ‘don’t miss the magic of the moment’
“The truth is, not all of the stories were wholesome or kind. They weren’t all politically correct or even decent but they were real.”
‘This is not just about me. HIS BABY DIED, TOO.’ They dismiss or ignore his grief.’: Woman reminds us dads also need support after losing child, ‘He, too, needs to heal’
“Martin lost the opportunity to teach Sage how to lace a glove or how to properly stand at home plate. Everything he could have done with Sage, or for Sage. He lost all of that.”
‘My body failed me. Betrayed me in the worst way. I wanted it to be a mistake.’: Woman’s first pregnancy results in miscarriage, ‘I’m not going to give up on becoming a mom’
“My husband and I needed to be together, but not at home. Not at the home where we were going to raise our first child together. Where we had the room picked out for the nursery. The home that had every ultrasound image plastered on the fridge.”
‘The nurse said, ‘This poor baby just needs something to eat!’ I knew there was something else going on.’: Woman loses preemie daughter to infection, ‘We have continued to celebrate our girl’
“They had to poke her AGAIN for more blood because they must have mixed up her blood with someone else’s. ‘That couldn’t have been hers,’ the doctor said, ‘she’s not that sick.’ The blood tests came back with the same terrifying results. Our girl was very sick.”
‘Unless you have a sick kid, you don’t understand. I wish I only had normal fears. I know any breath could be her last.’: Mom of CHD baby worries during Covid 19, ‘Your fears for your child’s health are NOT bigger than my fears.’
“Her appointment was flat out canceled, and her developmental checks were rescheduled and then canceled. For a normal child, that would be no big deal. For a child who just had major surgery that did not fix everything, those appointments are everything. I wish I could be ignorant like you.”
‘I’m on the floor, asking a friend to break isolation, putting her kids in danger, to come get the lentils from my fridge.’: Woman suffers from ARFID eating disorder
“It means you are happy to eat as many chicken nuggets as your belly can contain, but they must be from Wendy’s, they must be room temperature, and they must be dipped in a 50/50 mixture of ketchup and bbq sauce. If anything in that ritual is changed, then you cannot eat a single bite. Not will not, can not. You would literally rather starve to death then let that food pass over your lips.”
‘We see abnormalities.’ An exciting morning turned into a nightmare. I silently prayed.’: Baby diagnosed with Thanatophoric Dysplasia, ‘We wanted to enjoy the time with our baby in my womb’
“Lethal. No cure. The geneticist tried to make us feel better by telling us it was not our fault, it wasn’t anything we had done, or could have done to prevent this. Of course, that didn’t make us feel better.”