“My parents sat me down and told me I was going to need surgery. An 8-year-old, I cried and cried. I didn’t want to go in. When I woke in the recovery room, I learned it couldn’t be removed. We were devastated.”
‘The nurse came in as I was flailing. ‘I don’t want to go!’ The ambulance thought I was 80, not 8.’: Woman celebrates 20 years brain tumor free, ‘My hope is to give back’
‘That doctor ended up saving me twice in that hospital — first with a life-saving surgery, then again with a simple business card.’: After ectopic pregnancy, woman credits doctor with helping her ‘mental recovery’
“She handed me the business card and said, ‘I feel like you may need this.’ I started to talk, but the words couldn’t find a way out. I wanted to tell her I was fine and give the card back. Yet I knew, somewhere in my soul, I would need that card.”
‘I feel like Mufasa walking in the produce aisle. I’m always flattening out my curls. ‘We can both be beautiful together!’: Daughter inspires mom to embrace her curls, ‘I have to love my actual, physical self’
“’Mommy! Your hair is curly like MINE?’ My hair was drying naturally and had curled up a little bit. ‘Yes, my hair looks like yours before I…’ I almost said, ‘Fix it.’”
‘We butted heads. We were a little mean to each other. We kept our distance. I’m sharing this because more often than not, this is real life.’: Woman says ‘it’s okay to not have a perfect relationship’
“This is one of the fakest photos I’ve ever taken.”
‘She told me, ‘Your stomach is so nasty. How can you be confident and dress sexy when you look like that?’ I constantly compared myself to my beautiful friends.’: Woman urges ‘all bodies are good bodies!’
“‘Wow, you look beautiful,’ my husband would comment. ‘Shut up… No, I don’t.’ On a daily basis, he’d tell me I was undeniably gorgeous. I’d deny each and every compliment. But he never gave up on trying to make me feel beautiful and sexy. This body was a home for 9 months.”
‘We felt helpless watching his silent cries. ‘Am I allowed to touch him?’ We already lost our baby girl.’: Mom births rainbow baby with Congenital Diaphragmatic hernia, ‘I chose faith over fear’
“She told me our baby boy had a hole in his diaphragm. We felt helpless as our sweet boy fought for his life, and there was nothing we could do. After we lost our daughter, I said I would have done absolutely anything for her to be with us. This is it. This is the ‘absolutely anything.’”
‘Mom, can you please come over again?’ The hard nights won’t last forever, but neither will these little, chubby-arm days.’: Mom says ‘one day I will look back on these days, and miss this’
“The nursing every 2 hours. The drive home from the hospital with this new life. Every car was an enemy. The crying days, the googling symptoms, and ‘I’m just so tired,’ days. My mom body–more feminine and efficient than before. The highlights in his hair. The days where I could hold him in my arms, and he fit just right. I’m going to miss this.”
‘I’m pregnant with triplets!’ Then my heart sank. I was in shock. ‘The doctor has to look at something.’: Triplet with omphalocele heals in utero, ‘I wake up thankful’
“I said to my husband, ‘There’s more news. I’m pregnant with triplets!’ How could we afford that many diapers? Then the doctor called. ‘We need to do a more in-depth ultrasound.’ I knew something was wrong.”
‘You’ll end up alone.’ I was called Miss Piggy and took 26 pills a day. The pain was suffocating.’: Woman diagnosed with Fibromyalgia overcomes eating disorder, suicide attempt
“I woke up one day in agony, unable to move properly and bed-bound. The constant pain was so overwhelming I felt like I couldn’t live anymore. I hated what I’d done to my body. It was time for a change.”
‘Mama, no! Please no hair wash! Too scary!’ Was I being punished? I dread it just as much as he does.’: Autism mom shares insight into meltdowns, ‘We live a spectrum life’
“I’ll often hear things like, ‘Every kid has tantrums.’ He cried outside in negative degree weather for over 10 minutes because he wasn’t the first person to walk in the house. He started hitting me, throwing things, hysterically crying. I felt like it was my fault.”