“I was raised in a very sheltered church in South Florida. Cult is more fitting of a word to describe it. There was no escaping it. Everything I did was a ‘sin.'”
‘Britney Spears came from the devil, thong underwear was a sin, dancing or wearing sleeveless shirts brought too much attention.’: Woman overcomes childhood trauma to find self-love
‘My heart skipped a beat. A single outfit stopped me in my tracks. It was a familiar print, from my son’s final outfit.’: Mom caught off guard by emotional memory when she least expected it, ‘I fought back tears’
“Tiny little elephants danced across the pink fleece in front of me. It was a familiar print. I’d entered that very store years ago, searching for a final outfit for my gravely ill son. Shoppers were oblivious to me. As I got my daughter dressed, she smiled back at me. I teared up.”
‘The second that child enters this world, he’ll steal a part of your heart you didn’t know you had left to give.’: Woman claims a mother’s love transcends all circumstance, ‘No matter the chaos she brings, she’s worth it’
“You may regret it when you’re 34 weeks pregnant, and it takes so much effort to do the littlest things. You may regret it when you’re in labor with excruciating pain so intense it takes your breath away, as sweat forms in places you didn’t know produced sweat. No matter how much you can’t afford her, no matter how much time you don’t have, the second that child is placed on your chest, something changes.”
‘Her temperature is 103.7.’ She was placed on oxygen and IV’s immediately. I had to be strong for my sweet girl.’: Girl battles life-threatening flu, ‘Taking my McKenna home made me weep’
“I thought she’d sleep it off but the next morning, her breathing was off. It hurt her so much to cough that she’d scream out in pain each time. I was offering all her favorites, but she was declining food. She was placed on IV fluids and oxygen immediately. I wish I would have listened to my gut.”
‘I’m 30 years old, I’ve never had a child, and the first thing they say is, ‘We need to remove something from your body.’ It was completely crazy.’: Woman diagnosed with PCOS, endometriosis determined to conceive through IVF, ‘He gave us back the hope we had lost’
“We started noticing I was in a lot of pain during intercourse. One night, I was in so much pain I couldn’t bear it. I was taken to the ER. They told me I had an ovarian cyst rupture. I had no idea what that meant. They gave me some pain pills and told me to ‘rest.’ I went on like nothing was wrong. My periods were not coming on time. I’d miss an entire month or two. I was dealing with all these emotions while trying to maintain hope. Time was flying by, and I still didn’t have a baby.”
‘I knew something was wrong just by looking at him. ‘It’s not a blood clot. You have a 5-inch mass in between your heart and your lungs.’: Woman diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma fights to live for her daughter, ‘I’m too young to die. I have a 3-year-old daughter who needs her mom.’
“My first symptom hit like a ton of bricks. I felt heaviness in my chest I couldn’t explain. We had to run to catch our connecting flight. This is the exact moment I knew. I could not run. I WANTED to, but my body wouldn’t let me. I ate well and exercised often, so I knew something was very, very wrong. My friends said it sounded like I was having an anxiety attack. ‘I’m only 32 years old. How can this happen?’ Our lives changed forever.”
‘Is there something wrong with her head?’ Matt insisted on an answer. He bowed his head in prayer. I held his hand tight.’: Mom loses daughter to anencephaly, ‘Rachel made me a better person’
“‘She’s going to live, right?’ The doctor looked at me and said words I will never forget… ‘These babies don’t live.’ She handed me a box of rough, thin tissues and left the room. I completely lost all composure and thrashed around that room like I myself was being killed. ‘Not my girl… not my girl…’ I asked Matt, ‘What are we going to do?’ Without a pause, my brave husband said, ‘We’re going to give her a name.’”
‘My friend started her period. I was so jealous, I could barely talk with her about it. I wore my mom’s pantie liners. Somehow it made me feel better.’: Mom says she will tell her kids things
“I told both of my children about the time I agreed to kiss a boy in the back of the school yard when I was way too young. How I really, really liked this boy. I told them how mortified I was when friends gathered around us and agreed to cover their eyes, but didn’t. Instead, they watched it all and laughed. Love can make you do stupid things.”
‘I stopped feeling the girls move. ‘We can’t find 3 of the heartbeats.’ I had to stay strong for my survivor.’: Teen mom births ‘warrior’ preemie quadruplet against all odds
“The doctor sat down and said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ Nurses flooded into the room. I was only 19. ‘I can’t lose my babies.'”
‘My husband just left. ‘Where did he go? Is he okay?’ I was pregnant and alone. My entire world shifted.’: Woman loses Army veteran boyfriend to suicide, ‘I was grieving and terrified to be a single mom’
“He said, ‘I can’t do this.’ I drove around aimlessly, hoping I would find him. His mental illness took ahold of him and blurred his vision. I got a late-night call. For the next 7 months, I sobbed to and from every doctor’s appointment, wishing my daughter’s father were by my side.”