“They expected her last breath to happen any moment. An hour goes by. A nurse still by my side waiting to call time of death. The doctors are shocked. We all are. We were not expecting this.”
‘I went in expecting to hear she may never walk, but found out the situation was much worse. I was in shock. We wanted to give parents the option to take the babies home, even if we couldn’t.’
‘Last night I was a mama alone in the ER with my sick baby. As my feverish child sobbed, I paced the waiting room. There was panic across faces.’
“But as I would learn, I wasn’t actually alone.”
‘Predators go where the prey is, and unfortunately, they see our CHILDREN as that prey. A paycheck. An opportunity.’
“Predators take advantage of a moment a child is mad at their parents, and builds a wedge between them. Predators are patient. Children from our own communities are being plucked away from innocence and safety. This is more likely to happen from a false relationship online, than being randomly kidnapped.”
‘Six little words made my whole world fall apart. ‘Your baby may not make it’ – I jumped off the exam table and threw up in the trash can.’
“I was 22, pregnant with my first baby boy. I should’ve been ecstatic, preparing to welcome my sweet boy. Instead I was attending appointment after appointment to find answers as to what was wrong with him.”
‘From the bathroom all he heard was, ‘BABE?!’ Just 2 weeks after meeting the birth mom, we found out we were pregnant. I was actually mad. ‘God why NOW?’
“I had a missed call. My husband then got a call. We looked at each other… ‘Answer it!’ ‘Louis, are you with Audrey?’ ‘Yes, she can hear you.’ The words she spoke stopped time for me. Everything she said next was hard to process. I was shocked.”
‘Five weeks after Dorothy died, my nephew was born. I was so happy he was here, but was also happy he lived across the country so I didn’t have to see him yet. ‘And,’ she replied.’
“I looked at her puzzled, so she continued. ‘And. You are happy he is here AND you are happy you don’t have to see him right now. You don’t have to choose.’ After we left our session that day, I couldn’t stop thinking about that one little word.”
‘Some of the best Grandmas live in heaven. That’s what I tell my sons when they ask where Nana lives, and if we can go to her house, just once, to see what it’s like there.’
“I want them to know they will lose people. People they love, people that are important to them. But just because we lose someone, doesn’t mean they are gone.”
‘I started the dishes, but the toddler pooped her pants, so I had to change her. Do you know toddlers can produce purple poo after eating blueberries? I didn’t until I called 911.’
“The lady called me an abomination. There was a cry in the bedroom. The baby had woken up. Oh wow he smelled a little like cheese, not quite blue cheese, but definitely aged cheddar.”
‘Could it be her, after all this time?’ I was 19 when I found out I was pregnant. He raised his hands in disbelief.’: Birth mom’s unexpected reunion with daughter 17 years later
“‘Mom, that girl standing in the hallway looks just like your little butterfly.’ My daughter was in the middle of a dress rehearsal at the mall. As I turned to see this mysterious look-alike, I paused. She was there, and I was there. I stopped. ‘Your birth mother is in that room. Would you like to meet her?’”
‘My son still needs to be cuddled to sleep. He’s nearly four. People often ask how I stay so patient. The truth is, I don’t.’
“Tantrums. Not sleeping. Overtired. Driving me to the brink of insanity…”
