“I saw your knuckles turn white on that stroller handle bar. I saw you look down on your baby while it was starting to stir. ‘Please don’t cry,’ you whispered.”
‘I saw you hand over your note with sadness in your eyes. You looked at the pharmacist with fear as she read your details. You replied with the most defeated ‘no’ I’d ever heard.’
‘Come on, Jenn, you can do this!’ We were going to be parents of not only one little baby, but twins. He was admitted to the hospital just three months before my due date.’
“Justin went to urgent care because his chest was hurting. I could tell by the look on his face that he had bad news to share with me. I remember being in my two-bedroom apartment sobbing uncontrollably and screaming at the top of my lungs.”
‘Do you want to meet your son Miller?’ It hit me in that moment, this baby is not yet mine. He is hers.’: Family adopts child they had been praying for after struggling with infertility
“I threw her on speaker and I texted Ben 50 times in 2 minutes saying ‘ANSWER YOUR PHONE! ADOPTION CALL!’ We nervously, softly knocked on the door. She got up, kissing him, and we all started to cry. I tried to stay strong as she sobbed in my arms. It was time for us to go. We had to push our son out of the room and down the hall, away from her. I lost it.”
‘For the first 3 months everything seemed fine. At 4 months old, we noticed her soft spot looked different and started bulging from her head. Then, our lives changed forever.’
“One morning, Ellie woke up in extreme pain. We rushed to the ER. The MRI would give us news that would completely devastate our family. It never gets easier to watch her in pain when all you want to do, in your job as a mom, is take their pain away.”
‘Every couple has fought on the way to a party, only to step out of the car smiling. We post pictures of our kids melting down, but never share photos crying after an ugly argument.’
“We have a wonderful marriage. But we also have bad days where I dread the sound of his car pulling into the garage. When I’m really mad, I imagine what my life would look like as a single mom. This is normal. It’s OK.”
‘Dear Man on my flight, You referred to me as a ‘2-ton woman.’ I confronted you. ‘I am not 2 tons, but I did just have a baby.’ You asked the flight attendant for a different seat.’
“Would he have said that had I been a man? Or had my daughter and husband with me? I don’t know. But women deal with these attitudes and behavior more than men, that I do know. And I. Am. Over. It.”
‘A boy told me I shouldn’t wear shirts that show my scars. He said they are scary. I just want to be normal,’ she sobbed.’
“On a rushed morning, I threw her a tank top and asked her to get dressed. She quietly asked me for a different shirt. Oblivious and in a hurry, I said, ‘Why? You love that one. Just put it on, we gotta go.’ Tears formed in her eyes.”
‘Why the hell would you take a photo of me at that angle?,’ I said after I saw this photo in my husband’s phone. I became so self-conscious.’
“I once had a girl tell me that my dress would look better if I had some Spanx on – I had a cesarean 3 three months prior to that. I loved the way I looked in that dress.”
‘He said, ‘I know she can’t go home,’ and was quiet the rest of the ride. Dad couldn’t get his coat off fast enough. He sat beside her, so happy to see her, saying how much he loved her.’
“She was staring straight ahead. That didn’t matter to him. He was back with his Mary Jane. I noticed it was quiet. I look over and Dad is laying on her shoulder sobbing – not crying, sobbing. After my tears started, I went in their bathroom wanted to scream. So these are the golden years?”
‘I lied to my husband for the last time. He found out I’d been using drugs again, took the kids and left. I was devastated. I begged him to come back, but he was done.’
“I had a miscarriage. Thus began my spiral downward. I was chasing the numbness. I would hide packets of pills around the house anywhere I could, on shelves behind clothes, in boxes, drawers, cupboards, even in my kids’ rooms – anywhere.”
