“I bought a shirt that said, ‘Shhh, I have a secret, I’m going to be a big brother’ for my son to wear but I forgot it. I am a very superstitious person and this was the first bad omen I felt. All the blood rushed out of my head.”
‘I thought you’d be more excited.’ I had a pit in my stomach. I wonder who it was that we lost.’: Mom navigates secondary infertility, rainbow baby, ‘It all lead up to one moment’
‘She’s missing a bone in her leg.’ We had an impossible decision to make. I kissed her little broken foot goodbye.’: Mom amputates infant daughter’s leg, ‘She’s our saving grace’
“The doctors hit us with a heavy blow. ‘She won’t be able to walk. Ever.’ We tried to memorize how she looked with two little legs.”
‘I gently patted my son’s back when I heard a crackling, wheezing sound. ‘Something’s wrong, I just know it,’ I told my husband.’: Mom candidly shares journey with parenting PTSD
“I cried to the nurse on the hotline, ‘It sounds like he has fluid in his chest.’ I would sit nursing my son, crying endlessly in that rocking chair. Every breath my son took heightened my already over-the-top anxiety attack. I knew it wasn’t just anxiety. It was something more. This was the start of so many triggers.”
‘I cried all day, waiting for a call from our doctor. She needed to see us right away.’: Family discover 2 other children have complex heart issues after newborn’s complications
“I was secretly hoping for a girl, but the sonographer told us it was a boy. I looked at Austin, smiled, and said, ‘At least we make healthy boys.’ The sonographer’s reaction was a little startling. She said, ‘Well, wait…’ She couldn’t get a good view of his heart, but she didn’t know why.”
‘George was breached. I wasn’t allowed a c-section to save him. ‘If you leave this hospital, you’ll regret it.’ He was so close.’: Woman births miracle preemie despite all odds, ‘I’m so proud to be his mom!’
“I was allowed no monitors to check on my baby during labor. I didn’t have a clue whether or not he was still alive. I was left in the dark. At 23 weeks, I didn’t dare look as I pushed him out. He was put into a small plastic bag, intubated at my side. I told my family, ‘This is the end.’ We planned his final outfit, said goodbye. Just in the nick of time, he showed us he wasn’t going anywhere.”
‘Her neighbors found her on the side of the road. That’s when we knew. She wasn’t the same.’: Student becomes full-time caregiver for grandma with Alzheimer’s, ‘Normal life can wait’
“She didn’t laugh as much. She didn’t recognize me, and she wasn’t able to hold a conversation. I couldn’t believe the timing. It felt like a sign from my grandfather. I knew what I had to do.“
‘She’s been gone too long.’ It was a freak event during birth. She stopped breathing twice, turning grey.’: 2-day-old baby diagnosed with brain bleed, ‘She’s our big adventure’
“I knew something was wrong. A nurse came in and said Ellis had stopped breathing in the nursery twice. ‘She’s at high risk for significant developmental disabilities.’ He encouraged my husband and I to have a conversation about what to do if our baby didn’t wake up.”
‘When gifting us our rainbow baby boy my placenta was directly in line with my tumor.’: Woman with spinal tumor discovers ‘mini miracles inside a big miracle’
”Right before I was wheeled into the OR we discovered he, too, was not only a Buckeye but also graduated from the same small high school I graduated from. It gave all of us much more reassurance I was exactly where I needed to be at the exact right time. Mini miracle inside a big miracle.”
‘I’ll have her taken away from you.’ He played dad to a child who watched hers die months prior.’: Mom and daughter survive narcissistic abuse, ‘She was his victim, too’
“This was not, ‘Hey this isn’t working for me anymore. I hope we can still be friends.’ I found out he cheated on me, took my money, sold me a car he had pawned the title to. ‘I’ll have her taken away from you if you’re not careful.’”
‘She just listens to the ceiling fan spin. Her hurt and doubt soak her pillowcase with tears.’: Woman prays for others struggling with acceptance, ‘Dry her tears, God’
“When her head hits the pillow, her mind suddenly wakes up. And then, it gets really freaking mean. ‘Why aren’t you in better shape?’ it hisses in her head. ‘Your husband is aging better than you.’ By two, she’s exhausted from the thoughts, the Googling, and the tears.”