“Your child is power vomiting all over you and you’re trying to catch it like a baseball. And God forbid any of that makes you tired, GOD FORBID! Because Sensible Susan will start giving you her ‘be grateful’ advice.”
‘Colds, ear aches, CONSTIPATION! Have you ever pulled a hard log out of a babies’ bum with your bare hands? I have. I’ve seen the devil, my friends. It was ugly.’
‘Test after test doctors would tell us ‘it came back normal.’ How? Why are they coming back normal? My son seems to be getting worse, NOT better.’
“I thought to myself, ‘How long has he had this? Was it something I did?’ I had so many questions. To this day, most of my questions still haven’t been answered.”
‘My aunt said, ‘I hope you grow up and not sideways.’ I was the ‘fat kid’ and my father was disgusted with me.’: Woman learns to embrace plus-size body, ‘Fat is not a dirty word’
“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.”
‘He said he ‘knew what I had done.’ My clothes were all thrown on the floor. My boyfriend was kicking me out.’: Woman escapes abusive ex with bi-polar disorder
“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.”
‘This pregnancy was different. I thought it was because there was just one baby. Our son came into this world completely in his sac. Looking back, I should have known something wasn’t right.’
“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.”
‘They called for another baby!’ Henry and his twin brother were born micro preemies. Sadly, his twin passed away. Henry was put into foster care. I stood there staring at the message.’
“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.”
‘Where is my son? You aren’t the person I raised,’ she said through tear-filled eyes. She was curled up having a nervous breakdown on the bathroom floor. Pleading me to stop, but I can’t do that.’
“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.”
‘As I drove past him I muttered, ‘I wonder if that is him?’ Everything seemed right. The age, the injuries, the scars. I hadn’t seen him in 13 years. He was 4 years old then, but it seemed to fit.’
“I slowly approached him. When he looked at me, I shattered the ice. ‘Is your name Christian?’ ‘Yeah.’”
‘Ella had tumors in BOTH eyes. ‘Your twins have cancer.’ Things would never be the same.’: Family copes with shocking cancer diagnosis for twins
“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.”
‘When I placed my order I said, ‘Regular amount of chromosomes, please!’ That’s what everyone else got and what I wanted too.’
“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!”
‘School was torture. People made fun of me for ‘going to the bathroom too much.’ They thought I was anorexic. The doctor tried to dismiss me, telling me I had nothing but the stomach flu.’ Woman diagnosed with Intussusception, or severe intestinal problems, hopes to warn others
“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 discovered a bag he had given me. When I opened it, I found something I never knew was in there. I’ll never forget reading the words I didn’t know I needed to hear.’
“I never fully looked through the bag when he gave it to me. But when I went through all the items on this day, I found something – something I had once told Dad I would love to have after he was gone.”
‘Ewww, I don’t wanna see that.’ I’m 29 weeks. No one will take my photo. My husband rolled his eyes and avoided me.’: Mom encourages others to ‘celebrate’ their body in all it’s ‘beautiful glory’
“I had to beg my toddler to.”
‘She bagged all our groceries and told Isaac, ‘I love you.’ I don’t know how he knew how meaningful this would be to her, but somehow, he did.’
“Isaac made our day, just by taking his time with us. We’ve never met Isaac before, but as he watched Lilly approaching the bagging area, she started to get the first bag ready. I’ll never forget, he asked if she would like to help him.”
‘I remember falling into his arms, bawling. ‘It’s not fair! Why me?’ I desperately wanted a normal, healthy baby. I remember walking to the car, feeling as if someone died.’
“I immediately cried to my mom. ‘What if I’m embarrassed of my own child?’ Our little girl’s heart was broken. She had a hole right in the center of it. I prayed for mine to be broken instead.”
‘When I was 13, my family and I moved into my mother’s ‘dream home.’ Just 8 months later, things would take a drastic turn.’
“It was a helpless day. We stood outside of our home knowing there was nothing we could do. At the end of the day, we had nothing but the clothes on our back.”
‘Then came the email. ‘I have an oven that’s never been used. Do you need it?’ We didn’t know why she was offering us an ‘oven.’ Ours was in perfect condition!’: LGBT couple start a family through surrogacy
“The tension was palpable. Within seconds, the room was completely empty except for us. No explanation from anyone. In that moment, we both embraced each other and sobbed. Was Kimberly going to be ok? What about our son? Nothing prepared us for this unexpected event.”
‘Do you have a will?,’ my nurse asked. ‘No,’ I replied. ‘You need to get your affairs in order for your daughter, if anything should happen to you.’ What did this mean? I had failed her.’
“After writing out a will, I was wheeled off to the operating room. All I remember is waking up in a glass box with the curtains wide-opened. It was so eerie. I could hardly find my voice and was unable to move my body.”
‘It started out as ‘the talk.’ But it was hands on. I remember feeling dirty and wanting to crawl in a hole and die.’
“Life had become unbearable under the weight of my secret. He told me no man would ever want to marry me because I couldn’t keep the house clean. I knew that wasn’t true, but I did think no man would ever want me. I was tainted.”
‘You have to choose right now. Me or him.’ That was the last time I saw my brother alive.’: Woman battles 10-year addiction after brother’s death, starts ‘new chapter’ after near-death experience
“He was coming home from a party after drinking more than he should have. He lost control of the car. It was an eerily morning knock. There stood my mom and Papaw. ‘You brother’s been in an accident. He didn’t make it.’ Instead of reaching for closure and clarity, I reached for the bottle. I was well on my way to being the last living child for my parents to bury.”
‘It was just her and I. We laid in her bed, holding this sweet boy, talking about the future. As 48 hours passed, it came time for us to leave the hospital. We all walked out together, one family.’
“She asked pressing questions about parts of parenting we hadn’t even considered. ‘Do you plan to say at home? What will you do if your child doesn’t believe in what you believe? What type of school system do you want your children to attend?’”
‘Nash started choking on popcorn. The next day he had a weird cough. He felt warm and was super fussy.’: Mom warns about giving popcorn to toddlers after ‘eye-opening’ aspirating accident
“Last Saturday night we were all watching a movie and eating popcorn, which is a very frequent event in our home. After a long night, my son’s breathing looked a little labored to me and he had a fever. I gave him Motrin and put him to bed. I called my pediatrician. ‘Nash needs to be seen ASAP.’ Thank goodness I trusted my instincts.”
‘My friends ghosted me when my mom died.’
“I didn’t see it then, I just noticed the calls became less frequent and the invites were scarce. I turned around and it was like everyone just disappeared.”
‘Once again, my cousin was pregnant. She was due 6 months after me. She was in a toxic relationship with a man hooked on drugs.’: Woman adopts multiple babies from cousin, finds out she’s pregnant while battling cancer
“We found out she was pregnant with baby number 5. She had decided she just couldn’t parent the kids. My husband and I knew we couldn’t do two babies so close together. My son was only 11 months. Having three kids, two of whom had special needs, it just was too much on us.”
‘This elderly man needed pain meds for his wife. ‘It’s in aisle 6.’ He struggled to navigate the supermarket.’: Woman helps elderly man in simple act of kindness when no one else would
“Today, I watched an elderly man who had obviously fallen, with a huge scrape and blood on his leg. He walked past people in the cafe, while he slowly made his way to his car. Not one person stopped. Or looked. Or acknowledged him.”