“The palms of my hands were sweaty as I interlaced my fingers with Ryan’s. It felt like it was taking forever for her to share with us what she was seeing in my womb.”
‘We had been waiting a long time for this moment. Our doctor shared big news: ‘Congratulations, I see 2 heartbeats!’ She continued the ultrasound. Suddenly, the demeanor in her face changed.’
‘He couldn’t take it anymore. I noticed a dramatic shift in him. He got home and said he was done.’: Wife pens post about veteran husband suffering from severe PTSD, ‘We are ready to break the silence’
“I’ve been hiding our family’s ‘secret’ for years. My husband has severe and debilitating PTSD. Masking our smiles. Faking ok. A complete nightmare. Ty is a combat vet and has been a police officer of 10+ years. He knew they would look at him like he was crazy. He didn’t want his coworkers to think he was weak or less than. Year after year, I’ve begged him to hold on.”
‘My worst nightmare was happening. I laid on the OR table gasping for air. ‘Help me! I can’t breathe!’ I stared into my mother’s eyes. I could see the fear written all over her face.’
“A huge splash of fluid hit the curtain in my face. All I could think was, ‘I’m going to die right here. I was born on this day, and I’m going to die on this day giving birth.'”
‘My father was murdered 6 weeks before my wedding.’: After dad comes to her in a dream, daughter inspired to make costumes for toddler son
“When people find out about our costumes the first thing out of their mouths is ‘why?’ I typically give a throw-away answer like ‘because I’m crazy’ or ‘because I don’t sleep,’ but that’s not the full truth.”
‘I’m sure it’s nothing.’ She had a look on her face I’ll never forget. I got the call the next day. ‘It’s not what we thought it was.’: Mom diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant, ‘I found what’s important’
“‘What about the baby?!’ The surgeon said, ‘Your baby is going to be okay.’ How could my body betray me in this way? I begged them to take both of my breasts. My baby’s steady heartbeat kept me going.”
‘We took the kids Trick-Or-Treating and had fun being together. Little did we know, we would take our last family photo that day.’: Mom loses youngest son to SUDC, ‘My heart aches to hear him say ‘Momma’ one more time’
“Avery seemed to be coming down with something. All he wanted to do was snuggle and nap. He had a low grade fever but nothing alarming so we put him to bed like we always did.”
Friendship Looks Different In Your 30s
“Now it looks like ‘Ok, I’m coming, but I’m so tired I may fall asleep right in this glass of wine.'”
‘This led us to a dark, silent hospital room on Halloween. We were supposed to be prepping a nursery and picking out names.’: Mom shares journey losing first child
“Instead, we hastened to name an already much-loved child that was not ours to keep. Every alarm bell in my body went off.”
‘He screamed horrible things at me, broke my wall mirror, cornered me and told me he’d murder my family if I left him as he shook a butcher knife in my face.’
“I realized I couldn’t remember when I last had a period. I took a pregnancy test when I got home. It was positive. I was pregnant. I was freaking out.”
‘She thinks her reflection is another person, whom she has named Sharon.’: Daughter raises awareness about mother’s dementia
“Usually ‘Sharon’ is a good friend, but sometimes she gets messy, so I have to take the bathroom mirror down. She will have bursts of anger, and has tried to run away. We had to get an alarm for her bedroom.”