“School bullies loved to remind me of how worthless I was. I became the punchline to every joke. The word ‘fat’ was used as a weapon. I quickly learned I needed to find a man to validate me. That if I got married and made babies, then I could justify my existence. I was so tunnel-visioned I ignored red flags.”
“I asked her what was wrong. She told me she didn’t know how to tell me, but I should probably get home as soon as I could. My boyfriend had called her to let her know he was throwing out all my stuff and kicking me out. ‘Why?!,’ I asked her crying. My boyfriend yelled at me, saying I needed to get my (explicit) out of there now.”
“There is a term in nursing ‘Wimpy white boy,’ that refers to little white boy babies. They have a tendency not to do well in situations such as this. At 2 a.m. I had woken up and my oldest twin was facing me. I felt peace in that moment, and I knew right then I would have a baby that day.”
“We got the call when he 10 months old. At the time, my husband and I were fostering a baby girl suffering from shaken baby syndrome. We had already adopted 3 children, all who have special needs. I waited for my husband to get home and met him at the door.”
“Cops showed up at my mom’s house looking for me. She and I would hide behind the couch. She was my biggest enabler. Then, she had enough. With all of her jewelry, she said, ‘Is there anything you can sell so you can stop?’ There wasn’t anything real left. I had already sold it all.”
“I slowly approached him. When he looked at me, I shattered the ice. ‘Is your name Christian?’ ‘Yeah.’”
“The nurse quickly approached and hugged me with loving arms. She began to cry as well. I laid beside her that night. She said, ‘I’m going to hold you and cry along with you.’ And she did.”
“They called me and said, ‘Great news, we went ahead and upgraded you to extra chromosomes for free! You’ll receive the extra chromosomes with your completed order in 9 months.’ What?! I was mad!”
“I noticed my husband and mother exchange a very worried look. He told me this was likely the cause of all my problems since I was 4 years old. He also decided it was a good idea to tell me his last patient with this condition died.”
“I had lost 20 pounds by 18 weeks. Then it happened. ‘Code white’ over the intercom. 12 doctors and nurses ran into our room, scrambling around me. I dove into panic mode. My Guardian Angel grandpa had my hands in his, as if he were in the room. I’ll never forget the moment before my eyes closed.”
