“Our GPS was basically like, ‘You guys don’t want to go that way, PLEASE go this other way!,’ but we didn’t listen. Of course we wanted to go this way! I couldn’t get my balance. I was shaking with anxiety. But smile, everyone! Say cheese!”
‘We were 11,000 feet above sea level. I wanted to throw up. I instantly regretted this. But we’ve got to get that picture!’: Mom shares terrifying moment she ‘hated’ to encourage others to show their ‘true life’ moments too
‘Mom, why did we only get him for 3 years and not for a real, whole life?’: Mom urges parents to know ‘drowning happens, to real people, in seconds’ after son ‘slips away’ to pool 2 floors below
“I asked him for the hundredth time: ‘Do you ever go near the water without me?’ He shook his head adamantly and said: ‘No way, Mama. Then I wouldn’t see you again, and we would be so sad.’ I never imagined these words would come true.”
She grabbed my finger and squeezed tight. My husband looked up to the monitor. ‘She has no heartbeat, baby!’: Mom pregnant with twins delivers 1-pound baby premature, brother born 11 days later
“I looked up at her doctor and said, ‘She’s gone, isn’t she?’ With tears in his eyes, he shook his head yes.”
‘I don’t see arms.’ The sonographer takes too long rubbing the wand over my belly. Everything goes silent.’: After ‘repeat miscarriages,’ mom births ‘miracle, rainbow baby’ with TAR Syndrome
“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.”
‘What? No hands?’ The Universe chose me to be Ivy’s mom.’: Mother learns of daughter’s limb difference, refuses terminating pregnancy because ‘she was ours to love, protect’
“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.’”
‘My hands were shaking as I gripped my son’s tiny hand in the backseat. ‘Just hurry up and get to the hospital.’: Mom’s confusion after ‘idyllic’ newborn’s rare Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia diagnosis
“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.”
‘At 18, I hid an entire pregnancy all the way up to delivery. I refused to tell anyone. I was ashamed and afraid.’: Teen birth mom’s candid lessons learned after choosing adoption for her daughter, reuniting with her 18 years later
“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.”
‘He always watched porn because ‘he wasn’t getting any.’ He started pressuring me for sex, belittling me in front of his friends.’: Woman raises sex trafficking awareness after suffering in her own abusive relationship
“I was told to make an effort to look better, dress in a sexy manner. He would show me the kind of pornography he enjoys. I found so many messages he sent to women he claimed were his ‘friends.’ When I confronted him about it, he laughed.”
My 18-Month-Old Was Diagnosed With Childhood Alzheimer’s
“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.”
‘At 6, I learned what pure evil is. I knew something was wrong.’: Abused young woman ‘adopted’ by teacher who ‘actually got to know me’ during traumatic childhood
“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.”