“As soon as he found out, our pediatrician said, ‘Take your son Oliver to the oncologist, too.’ I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.”
‘One of Eliza’s eyes was sticking out. The doctor took one look and said, ‘I think she has a tumor.’: Mom’s two kids diagnosed with cancer 2 weeks apart
‘The doctor walked in and said, ‘It’s time to take him.’ A rush of fear came over me. We were supposed to have another week.’: Heart warrior ‘defies the odds one day at a time’
“Thoughts of a nice smooth pregnancy went out the window. My biggest fears were coming to life.”
‘Both of his eyes bounced. I knew there was something wrong.’: Mom says ‘we didn’t know how beautiful raising a blind child would be’
“I cried every time I thought of him not being able to see my face. It was hard not to grieve the baby we once dreamed of.”
‘My cell phone vibrated. ‘Children’s genetics ANSWER.’ This was the moment I’d been waiting for.’: New mom shares journey parenting child with Prader-Willi Syndrome
“12 years into this gig, I can confidently say parenting a child with a disability isn’t for the faint of heart.”
‘Your placenta looks really bad.’ By the time I got to the hospital, I could barely walk.’: Mom shares grief of child loss, ‘You’re stronger than you think’
“My husband was over the moon. ‘Oh my god, our own team!’ I mourned being pregnant for a while.”
‘We’ve been turned down 35 TIMES by surrogates for our sexual orientation.’: Gay couple have twins via surrogacy
“We’ve been called the f-word in a Home Depot parking lot. We’ve had horrible and nasty DMs on social media. But our kids have two parents who love them DEARLY, and they’re better off for it.”
Sometimes, I Don’t Want To Be The Mom
“Sometimes, I don’t want to worry about the drinks and the snacks and the sunscreen and the chairs and ‘Did you go potty?’ or ‘Make sure you bring a jacket!’ Sometimes I don’t want to make dinner. Again. Or load the dishes. Again. Sometimes, I’m not ‘cherishing every moment.’ I’m surviving.”
‘When numbers and letters claim a child has fallen behind, here’s the thing. There is no behind. Behind is a flat-out lie.’: Mom urges ‘our kids are so much more than how the world measures them’
“Our kids are so much more than how the world measures them. We cannot measure their hearts and their souls…but oh, if we could, the beauty found there would bring us to our actual knees.”
‘We’d been home from the hospital 3 nights when I saw two missed calls from the pediatrician. I knew this was life-changing.’: Mom shares daughter’s journey with Cystic Fibrosis
“Shay had bright green stool no one in the hospital could figure out. ‘Her infant panel results came back. There is no cure.’ After hanging up, I broke down crying.”
‘When the nurse removed the bandages, I held my breath and squeezed my eyes closed.’: Woman shares journey with bilateral cleft lip and palate
“I expected fireworks. I might finally feel whole and love myself completely. Instead, I felt betrayed by myself.”