“I said, ‘This isn’t happening. This is a false alarm.’ I had a tough decision to make. Do I go with our soon-to-be daughter, or do I stay with our expectant mom? She reassured me, ‘You are supposed to be with your baby.’ These types of mothers are part of the miracle.”
“I awoke 2 hours later to my cell phone ringing. I had missed several calls from my husband. I picked up the phone, breathing heavily, and my husband was immediately alarmed. He asked me if he should call an ambulance, and I said no, hung up, and went back to sleep. The next thing I knew, he was home and stuffing me into the car.”
“There she is, taking up too much space with her laughter, her curves, her honesty, her sexuality. Oh, that too much woman, with her belly laughs and fiery passion. The one who loves too hard, feels too deeply, asks too often, desires too much. Her presence is as tall as a tree, as wide as a mountain. Her energy occupies every crevice of the room.”
A teen went into labor in her dorm bathroom without ever knowing she was pregnant.
“I was always able to easily satisfy people’s curiosity about our beautifully mismatched family. Until now.”
“At 13, I began to let boys put their hands on my sacred spaces, but my permission still didn’t gain their respect. I was just a goal conquered as he walked past the football team. I saw the smirks and yet I continued to endure the degrading behavior. Sex is so much more sacred than mankind has treated it.”
“But I promise you, I will pick myself up from those inevitable tough moments and I will try harder next time. I will learn from my mistakes and I will teach you the same. I hope my love for you is enough.”
“My mother-in-law asked me if I liked my doctor. ‘Well, I did before he stuck his finger in my butthole!’ I make jokes. Sometimes, really inappropriate ones. There is no right way or wrong way to deal with a situation like this. I was at a hospital that had already saved my life once.”
“I was cutting my son’s hair on a Friday afternoon when I noticed his head looked a bit different. His forehead popped out quite a bit and the top of his head was higher than the back. Months later, we noticed our puppy was becoming more and more sleepy. He was having a hard time standing on his legs and would get winded very fast. ‘The odds of them both having this are astronomical.’ The news hit me like a brick. Thanos and Branson were meant for each other.”
“‘Is that a yes? We can meet at Walmart. Thanks so much.’ Meet at Walmart? With a 4lb preemie? In the middle of cold and flu season? I kept my children in isolation for 6 weeks and here was a newborn heading to his first outing in the middle of winter. It was all too much to take in. I had no idea what our future with him might hold, but I did know this: no baby deserves to be alone.”
