“I looked up at her doctor and said, ‘She’s gone, isn’t she?’ With tears in his eyes, he shook his head yes.”
She grabbed my finger and squeezed tight. My husband looked up to the monitor. ‘She has no heartbeat, baby!’: Mom pregnant with twins delivers 1-pound baby premature, brother born 11 days later
‘I don’t see arms.’ The sonographer takes too long rubbing the wand over my belly. Everything goes silent.’: After ‘repeat miscarriages,’ mom births ‘miracle, rainbow baby’ with TAR Syndrome
“We told our family about Nicholas’ lack of arms. ‘Do you think you should keep him?’ That question BROKE my heart. Having to confront the fact others disagreed with me was as painful as my miscarriages. Was I sentencing him to a painful life? People who didn’t know would talk of all the things he’d accomplish. It all felt like lies.”
‘What? No hands?’ The Universe chose me to be Ivy’s mom.’: Mother learns of daughter’s limb difference, refuses terminating pregnancy because ‘she was ours to love, protect’
“Missing both forearms and hands. This felt like a punch to the gut. It stole my breath. My husband firmly, passionately said to me, ‘I’ll do whatever I have to do to take care of her. I’ll build her anything. I want her. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll take care of her for the rest of her life.’ He was right. She saw me and said, ‘Yes. I want her. I want HER to be my mommy.’”
‘My hands were shaking as I gripped my son’s tiny hand in the backseat. ‘Just hurry up and get to the hospital.’: Mom’s confusion after ‘idyllic’ newborn’s rare Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia diagnosis
“Talk about nerves. ‘He’s a calm little guy!,’ my OBGYN assured us as they whisked him away to be washed and weighed. It was love at first sight. Then, just a few days before celebrating one month on this earth with our son, we underwent an intense baptism into a new, unimagined kind of parenthood. Our son was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder.”
‘At 18, I hid an entire pregnancy all the way up to delivery. I refused to tell anyone. I was ashamed and afraid.’: Teen birth mom’s candid lessons learned after choosing adoption for her daughter, reuniting with her 18 years later
“After graduating high school just months prior, with a 5+ month baby belly hidden under my gown, I was rushed into ‘the next chapter.’ The pregnancy was over, and I just wanted to be a ‘good girl.’ No baby in my arms, I cut ties with her father. Then blink! I reunited with my baby days shy of her 18th birthday.”
‘I was holding hands with my boys when a friend shook his head at me. ‘Ya know, you’re raising them to be mama’s boys.’ Every hair on my arm stood up.’ Mom with all-boy tribe criticized for raising ‘mama’s boys’
“It was a neighborhood street, but the darkening sky and numerous curves made me a little nervous. So, I kept my boys close to me. And just like that, the cool air was replaced with hot steam billowing from my ears. He continued to list reasons why raising mama’s boys was a NEGATIVE thing. It was one of those Mama Bear moments you don’t see coming, but hits hard and fast.”
‘He always watched porn because ‘he wasn’t getting any.’ He started pressuring me for sex, belittling me in front of his friends.’: Woman raises sex trafficking awareness after suffering in her own abusive relationship
“I was told to make an effort to look better, dress in a sexy manner. He would show me the kind of pornography he enjoys. I found so many messages he sent to women he claimed were his ‘friends.’ When I confronted him about it, he laughed.”
My 18-Month-Old Was Diagnosed With Childhood Alzheimer’s
“As my daughter was giggling, bursting with love in the next room, I was learning she wouldn’t be growing up at all. I didn’t know diseases like this even existed, not to mention strike children. Our child.”
‘At 6, I learned what pure evil is. I knew something was wrong.’: Abused young woman ‘adopted’ by teacher who ‘actually got to know me’ during traumatic childhood
“My teacher was so nice and friendly. He would talk to me, and actually get to know me. I would go to his office during lunch because I didn’t have friends, money or a lunch to eat. My mom jerked us all the way across the country to live with a man she met on the internet. It took me 2 months to finally save money to go back home, and when I did, I went back to that same high school.”
‘I can’t breathe!’ The medics tried to calm me down. ‘I don’t want to die!’: Woman overcomes severe anxiety, loses 90 pounds after struggle with PCOS, infertility
“One year ago, I had one of the scariest nights of my life. It changed everything. I waited too long to get help, again. My brain was convinced I was having a heart attack, but the medics reassured me I was just having a panic attack. My chest was on fire and my heart felt like it was going to explode.”