“My cousin called my mom screaming when she found out. ‘How can you be happy for him?!’ In public, we get looked at A LOT. It doesn’t matter if we’re at Olive Garden or Home Depot. It’s hard to turn a blind eye to the glares. As much as I wish I wasn’t bothered by my past, it comes bubbling back up. There’s something that happens to one’s confidence when they grow up in an environment like mine.”
“I looked up at her doctor and said, ‘She’s gone, isn’t she?’ With tears in his eyes, he shook his head yes.”
“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.”
“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.’”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
