“As I studied her face, I thought, ‘Yes, it’s you! I know you!’ It felt like we had been reunited. Everything about her was so familiar. 24 hours of labor was completely worth this bright ray of sunshine that had entered my life. She passed away just 15 months later.”
“Brushing, curling, braiding, or drying can cause nerve stimulation on the scalp and cause some children to have seizure like symptoms. Apparently very rare but so scary to see it happen!”
“By the time my son reached Pre-K, there was no denying he was truly one fabulous little guy. People have asked me for years if Sam is gay or transgender. My response? ‘Sam is a child, and if I have anything to do with it, he’ll be a happy one.’”
“He started complaining that his legs hurt and didn’t want to walk anywhere. The doctor said to give him Gatorade and Tylenol. His right leg started swelling up. ‘I don’t want to freak you out, but you need to take him back to the doctor.’ That ended up being the most important advice I have ever received.”
“I sat down in my seat, and 2 minutes later, boarding was ceased by the captain to observe a moment of silence. I thought, ‘Now what?'”
“I was a child who was told to shut up when I cried. I learned to suppress deep inside. And it erupted like a volcano. I’m in a hospital bed because what I did was a cry for help.”
“According to him, having a child is ‘really not that hard’. We tried to persuade him to look at other options, but he immediately shuts down any talk of the situation. So, instead, I have decided to teach him that kids are more difficult than he thinks.”
“I didn’t have it in me to tell her this was my swimsuit.”
“‘Emily?’ The sniffling voice on the other line was hoarse from sobbing. I sighed. A tearful call in the middle of the night could only mean one thing. She hesitated. ‘Will you and Chris be my foster parents?’ I was caught off guard. We were 23 and 24 at the time, and newly engaged.”
“We noticed a handful of brown curls on Rosie’s pillow. ‘Maybe she’s stressed about the new baby?’ The next morning, even more curls. ‘Maybe she’s allergic to her shampoo?’ Monday came and the last of her hair fell out. Our pediatrician assured us it was stress. It wasn’t. Our hope that this would be a temporary condition, even a funny story someday, slowly faded. Instead, we had to get used to the unkind stares and finger-pointing.”
