Children

‘Before kids you sleep in. After kids you’re whacked in the face at 5 a.m. because you’re someone’s little breakfast making machine because sleep is overrated.’

“Before kids, you make out in your big bed, have a little nasty time and fall asleep lovingly in each other’s arms. After kids, you promise you’ll meet up later and lock the bathroom door for some adult time, but instead you both fall asleep snoring.”

Published by LJ Herman - Jan 11, 2019

‘The doctor starts clicking away on the ultrasound machine, trying to get a better look. ‘Well, you are pregnant.’ He said it looked ‘good.’ Then, he went silent.’

“I woke up at 1 a.m. on our wedding anniversary, and felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. This wasn’t unusual. I had been pregnant for over a month. But something didn’t feel right.”

Published by LJ Herman - Jan 10, 2019

‘I easily doubled the speed limit. ‘We’re gonna make it buddy. You’re gonna be okay. Mommy loves you.’ I talked to him the whole way.’: Mom recounts son’s horrible experience with RSV

“I thought, ‘Hey, these ladies are kind of doctors, they’ll know what to do.’ I asked their advice. ‘Does he seem sick? Should I bring him in?’ The doctor had JUST examined him. The women wholeheartedly agreed it was probably just a cold and he’d be just fine. Oh naive me. I would slap the stupid out of me if I could go back.”

Published by Eliza Murphy - Jan 10, 2019

‘The first thing in his search was, ‘How to track girlfriend’s phone.’ Blood drained from my face.’: After becoming a ‘shell’ of her former self in abusive relationship, woman finds true love, realizes ‘I am enough’

“I saw bruises on my 2-year-old’s face. I figured, ok he’s clumsy, maybe he fell down or something. Then I found a bruise on his neck that looked like a handprint. I pushed the feeling aside, and thanked her for watching my boys. I ran my little guy a bath and started taking his clothes off. Immediately I knew something more sinister had happened. My baby had bruises from his upper back all the way down to his ankles.”

Published by LJ Herman - Jan 10, 2019

‘I’m OK mom. I love you too,’ was the last thing he said to me. That was 10:20 on Saturday night.’: Mother tragically loses her ‘best friend’ son to heroin overdose

“He always answered my calls. But on Sunday morning, he didn’t. And I just knew he was gone. The only way I can explain this pain is that every cell in my body that created my son is on fire yearning to hold him again. It’s a physical pain only a mother would know. It’s in my bone marrow. Just a deep yearning to touch him, and hold him.”

Published by Eliza Murphy - Jan 10, 2019

‘We found out we were pregnant at 17. We were scared. Soon after, we were having a second.’: Woman shares teen pregnancy, co-parenting story, ‘I’m so grateful for my ex’

“We had the ‘million dollar’ family. A boy, a girl, and two high school sweethearts who got married and made it through teen pregnancy. But then, we started to lose the ‘spark.'”

Published by LJ Herman - Jan 10, 2019

‘He started talking to me, his lips were moving but I couldn’t hear any words. Slowly, everything began to get darker until I emerged into complete darkness.’

“‘It makes sense now.’ I asked him what he was talking about. ‘My sister,’ he said. ‘It makes sense why she’s gone. Now we know. We finally have an answer.”

Published by Colin Balfe - Jan 10, 2019

‘A close friend was utterly devastated she was going to have a C-section. I wasn’t the right person to have that conversation with.’: Mom of triplets talks loving your body after infertility struggles

“I was 105 pounds when I found out I was pregnant with triplets. My body stretched and stretched. To be honest, my only thought was, ‘You get to have a baby!’”

Published by Eliza Murphy - Jan 10, 2019