“This pregnancy has been exceptionally harder for me emotionally, knowing I won’t have any pictures of my dad holding this baby. I keep praying for him to show up in some way or another. And boy, did he.”
‘My daughter said, ‘There’s a light coming into the picture.’ It wasn’t just any light. This was a beam straight from HEAVEN itself.’: Mom receives ‘unexpected signs’ from late father
‘When I gave birth to my second child, I relapsed. I was running around, so it was easy to miss lunch. But then, I started missing that meal purposely.’
“’Just because I did it in the past doesn’t mean I’d do it again. Plus, I’m breastfeeding.’ That was the scary thing, I was BREASTFEEDING, and my daughter needed the nutrients. Hearing myself say those words out loud freaked me out. I lied.”
‘There’s a lot of fluid in there. I’m going to get your doctor.’ My heart sank, and I debated calling my husband, but just sat there, numb.’: Birth photographer shares her own stillbirth, encourages others to share
“I trusted my doctor dearly, so I knew she’d have something good to say. She always did. She did not this time.”
‘If I could sit down beside 25-year-old me, the one sobbing and screaming uncontrollably on the floor, I would have a lot of things to tell her.’: Motherless daughter reflects on the day she lost her mom
“I would sit right beside the younger me who is screaming, ‘Why her??’ and ‘Where are YOU?? How did you just disappear??’ and ‘How am I going to survive this without you??'”
‘I used to be the wild girl, could have 4 or 5 drinks and be dancing like no one’s watching. I had confidence to talk to anyone, had more energy than one should.’
“I am invisible. And that can hurt. There are still parts of the old me that I miss. You are born alone, spend years developing who you are, becoming an independent woman… and then suddenly you become someone’s mom, someone who is too exhausted to enjoy life.”
‘Where was I? Frantically driving around the streets of Detroit, trying to find you, with tears streaming down my face, fear in my stomach, yet determination in my heart.’
“I see the comment so often when it comes to addiction. ‘Where were the parents?’ That REALLY infuriates me. We feel judged, unsure of what to say.”
‘The miscarriage destroyed my relationship with my best friend. Neither of us knew how to process the grief.’: Woman details experience through pregnancy, miscarriage, abuse and hope
“I received a phone call from Dae who had just turned 14. She was calling to tell me she was pregnant. We ended up being due 3 weeks apart. I was shocked.”
‘I was terrified to take this tiny human home! How was I going to do this all alone? But Jager was always there to lend a helping paw.’: New mother relies on service dog to help her through postpartum depression
“I would cry for what seemed like no reason. I would get so overwhelmed at the sound of my baby crying. Jager fetched bottles for me, diapers if I asked him to. Mostly he would just sit and listen to me. Always offering a good old-fashioned, wet, slobbery kiss if I needed it. He is so much more than just a dog to me.”
‘Candy is delicious and it’s okay to give ourselves a REWARD for being awesome moms.’: This mom’s HYSTERICAL candy chart is pure parenting genius
“I kept seeing this picture that listed different candies, their calorie count and what kind of exercise you should do to burn them off. Um, no thank you.”
‘I am the Jewish nurse. The one people are talking about in the Pittsburgh shooting that left 11 dead. The nurse that cared for Robert Bowers who yelled, ‘Death to all Jews,’ as he was wheeled into the hospital.’
“I’m sure he had no idea I was Jewish. I wanted him to feel compassion. I chose to show him empathy. I felt the best way to honor his victims was for a Jew to prove him wrong. Love. That’s why I did it.”