“I had this perfect idea of what our lives would look like. I’ll never forget that phone call. ‘Your testing came back positive for Down Syndrome.’ I felt scared, but I also felt PEACE.”
‘There’s a 92% chance.’ I had NO IDEA if we could handle it. But when we saw his almond-shaped eyes, our hearts were stolen.’: Mom births son with Down syndrome, ‘We are truly blessed’
‘Your boyfriend and his ex are traveling together? You’re okay with this?!’ I laughed, thinking about Corey driving Robin nuts the entire trip.’: Bonus mom shares co-parenting bond, ‘She makes me feel like part of the family’
“Some days I’m her confidante, some days her big sister, some days her disciplinarian. I love Corey to death, but right is right. When he’s screwing up and Robin gets painted as the bad cop, I say so.”
‘Babe, were you drugged?’ The entire right side of my body was limp. I opened my mouth but words wouldn’t come out.’: Stroke survivor details recovery journey, ‘I got a second chance at life’
“My head started spinning. The next thing I knew, I woke up lying on the cold bathroom floor. A team of nurses pulled out defibrillators. ‘Claire, can you hear me?’ It was excruciating. I couldn’t help but scream out.”
‘Am I going to die?’ I woke to strands of hair on my pillow. My heart sunk. ‘I’m going to be bald.’ I lost my hair a week before prom.’: Teenager shares cancer journey, ‘It opened my eyes’
“I felt isolated from my friends. They viewed me as being fragile, but I was the same person as before. This shattered me. No matter what I did, I was always viewed as the cancer girl.”
‘It’s twins. Congrats!’ Josh was speechless. ‘Again?’ There were 4lb bundles in incubators.’: Gay dads experience surrogacy and have 2 sets of twins, ‘We were blessed twice’
“I will never forget kneeling at Josh’s desk as he opened the email to be greeted with one line. ‘You have twins.’ I looked at him and asked, ‘Are you okay?’ These words would double my dream.”
‘Why didn’t your REAL mom keep you?’ I arrived at the orphanage basically dying. I’m grateful for her sacrifice.’: Transracial adoptee shares journey, ‘Love is so much more than DNA’
“She made a difficult decision. I was severely malnourished, with bowed legs, and developmentally delayed. I lost my family AND my country. It’s traumatic.”
‘Well, it looks like you have a Duchenne boy.’ My stomach dropped. The more I read, the more I started to become numb.’: Mom shares journey of son with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy
“I was so angry. I was angry at the doctor who said, ‘You have a Duchenne boy but here’s a great camp we offer. It’s free!’ I was angry at the physical therapists who had worked with my son for years and hadn’t caught on. I was angry I had to wait over a month to be told my seemingly healthy son is terminal.”
‘Live your life; life is too short!’ We were scared of the virus. We did everything in our power to keep you safe.’: ICU Nurse pens 2020 open letter to daughter, decorates early to bring ‘Christmas Spirit’
“One day, I’ll tell you about how, despite our fears, we secured our masks, wore our face shields, and fought alongside our patients and coworkers in the ICU and on the floor. There were days the anxiety and stress of fighting a virus we knew little about took the front seat. But we stood together, stood strong, and gave our all.”
‘If we’re meant to have a baby, God will make it happen.’ My calling wasn’t to carry the title ‘mom.’: Woman reflects on ‘childfree’ life, ‘This is the path we were called to’
“One morning, we got a surprising phone call. Our IVF date had been moved up, cutting out time in half. Saying no wasn’t easy, but I knew it was the right choice.”
‘Mama, is our baby sick?’ They stuck a foot-long needle in my stomach. I just wanted it to be over.’: Mom gives birth to baby with Down syndrome, ‘All we see is light and beauty’
“I announced, ‘I’m about to vomit.’ Then I was no longer talking because I had blacked out. ‘Patient is crashing and baby is unstable.’ They flipped me onto all fours. I couldn’t feel my body from the waist down.”