“Doing all I could to keep it together, I replied, ‘That may be a hard promise for him to keep.’”
‘Mommy! I’m going to ask Santa for a baby in your belly!’: Woman shares emotional journey to little Christmas miracle
‘Please think about how you would feel. If your everything. Were no longer here. Please know that for some. This is the absolute most difficult time of the year.’
“Always offer us an invitation, even if we do not want to attend. Please know that we are not jealous of your joy. But that seeing others happy can be a devastating reminder.”
‘I lay in bed with wires and IV’s attached to me. A nurse walked in, armed with a breast pump. ‘You need to start pumping,’ she said. Excuse me?’
“A confused expression took over my face. I was barely alive.”
‘I heard them bring up me and say, ‘Wow, another pregnancy! Geez, I hope you guys can afford it.’ He looked over at me while I had tears in my eyes.’: Husband corrects ‘friend’ after horrible comment
“Then they said, ‘Gosh, it must be boring being at home all day. What does she do all day? I guess she’s not going back to work? Must be nice.’ And they giggled to each other with their stupid faces.”
‘We thought we were too young! A proposal? She proceeded to tell us about a little baby boy, only 2 months old, who was ready to come home in three weeks. THREE WEEKS!’
“A few days later we pulled into the foster home and met our son for the first time. There are no words that can truly explain that experience, but I can say it is possible to love someone you just met.”
‘At first they thought both stuck, then they thought it was a chemical pregnancy, and then they weren’t sure if it was viable. Then I found blood. I was 100% sure I was losing the twins.’
“At first he was speechless, and then asked me if it was real. Next thing I know he is in tears, then I’m in tears.”
‘His skull looked as thin as a piece of paper. We were given the option to terminate at 7 months pregnant. He’s not dead yet.’
“The next day I got the call. ‘Jessica, can you come into the doctor’s office tonight?’ I was just heading out the door for work, but she said, ‘Jessica, you need to come in now please’.”
‘She said, ‘I’m sorry. There’s something wrong with your little girls’ chest.’
“The ultrasound tech couldn’t tell me what was wrong, she wouldn’t even tell me the gender of my baby. She kept making excuses to leave the room. I knew something was wrong, I had seen all of my sisters’ ultrasounds before, her babies never looked the way mine did.”
5 Minutes Before My Flight, I Gave Birth In An Airport Bathroom
“Five minutes before our flight was to board, we all piled into the tiny family restroom and I sit down on the toilet. The firefighter asked me ‘Heather, how far along are you?’”
Post-College Depression Is A Real Thing, But It Gets Better (I Promise)
“I went from being the poster child college student to alone, depressed, barely able to get out of bed.”
‘Dear neighbor, It’s me. The girl on the other side of your walls. The one who dialed 911 at 2:30 a.m. last night.’: Woman recounts domestic violence encounter
“The one who heard you screeching as your alcoholic husband was screaming in a drunken fury. I’m the one who told the police that you have 5 children. As a survivor of domestic abuse, it pulls at my heart every time I hear yelling next door.”
‘Home was a safe place for Brian in 2008. Whatever happened in school, stayed in school. Not now.’
“Brian walks across the cafeteria, minding his own business. Suddenly, his feet slide out from under him. The tomato soup goes up in the air and comes down on his lap. He’s so embarrassed, that when he stands up, he doesn’t notice Mark filming.”
‘The ache in my heart starts around the holidays. I know I am being ‘watched.’ I’m actually afraid everyone will think I have moved on and forgotten my son.’: Bereaved mom navigates grief during the holidays
“Everyone asked if we were doing anything special in honor of Alex on the first anniversary of his death. I refuse, to this day, to call it an anniversary. It is the day our lives changed forever. Anniversaries are for celebrating. So I just call it the day Alex died.”
To My Sensitive Son: I Worry About You Endlessly
“Being the sensitive kid is not the ‘cool’ thing when you’re growing up.”
‘I never thought I would have to say, ‘Now, kids, don’t go jumping in the attic because, well you know, you might fall through the ceiling one day.’: Mom hilariously recalls the joys of parenting teenagers
“The minute my phone dinged and I saw it – I knew. I just knew. I shook my head and bit my lip to keep the tears of fury from coming, but I instinctively knew what happened – teenagers. That’s what.”
‘I don’t know why your husband’s in pain, he has no meningitis.’ I’ll never forget when the nurse angrily said this to me when I told her my husband said his head feels like it’s on fire.’
“When I got back nurses and doctors were running in his room, yelling ‘code blue!’ I wasn’t allowed in the room – they were intubating him. I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach. I was sobbing.”
‘Don’t let him move back in, he’s going to kill you.’ I’d been living through hell in a horrible marriage. Most said, ‘Wow we thought you were so happy.’ I didn’t want anyone to know.’
“This little girl is excited and doesn’t understand why so many people have stopped by. Why are people bringing us food? Not realizing that her world is about to change. Her mom had been holding a secret.”
‘My dad was murdered. I assumed it had been thrown away years ago, but it was there. He saved it.’: Woman finds ‘precious items’ sorting through father’s belongings 6 years later
“It wasn’t until I reached this box that I really lost it. I carried it to my car, and carefully placed it in the glove box.”
‘Santa walks over to a veteran sitting on the wall. As Santa approaches, the veteran stands, and Santa takes a knee.’: Woman witnesses touching moment between mall Santa and WWII veteran
“I hear Santa telling the gentleman, in a soft voice, of others he knew who served. He shakes his hand with genuine gratefulness, thanking him for his service, then returns to the children.”
‘Does it look too big?’ Our perfect, happy, healthy baby boy had a belly full of tumors. Cancerous tumors.’: Mom’s newborn diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, says ‘every little moment’ with loved ones is a ‘reason to celebrate’
“When our pediatrician comes back in, I see fear on her face. I feel the air leaving my lungs, my chest feels so heavy. She tells me his liver and spleen are enlarged, so enlarged the radiologist who read his X-ray asked, ‘How sick is this baby?!’ He’s not sick at all! He’s smiling and laughing, he’s perfect. I rush toward the elevator, a literal sobbing mess. How did I not know this? I thought I knew shock and devastation. I had no idea.”
‘When Santa was pouring milk into my son’s tube, he beamed with pride. ‘You see him give me my milkies mommy?!’: Santa shares tender moment with little boy, ‘his biggest wish came true’
“All we have been longing for, for two years, was for Austin to be able to eat again. It’s been rough on him – he couldn’t have liquid or food orally. He has recently started eating again, after two years completely tube fed, and he is able to try many foods now. This picture is the perfect celebration and way to remember that his biggest wish came true.”
‘You know what I don’t remember about my childhood Christmases? I don’t remember anything being especially decorated.’: Woman’s best Christmas memories aren’t ‘picture perfect’
“I don’t remember Pottery Barn centerpieces or monogrammed stockings. I don’t remember Pinterest-worthy trees or anything that would make one declare, ‘That is so precious. I must Instagram it immediately.’ That all might have been there. But if it was, I don’t remember.”
‘I like daddy better than you! He always plays with me!’ Soul crushing, right? All the things I do for you go unnoticed, but I’ll do them for you anyway.’
“I’m the one tidying up the toys while you are wrestled with. I make sure all your appointments are up to date, even when I forget my own. I’m the one up till 3 a.m. making the LEGO house you asked for. Hiding Christmas presents.”
‘This is dwarfism. I am 99% certain the result will be fatal for the baby.’: Doctor drops bomb on mom during routine ultrasound, ‘He watched me completely break down’
“There it was. A bomb. He dropped it and then watched me completely break down. ‘I am certain this is skeletal dysplasia (dwarfism) and 99% certain the result will be fatal for the baby.’ We spun with the overload of information that had been given to us about our baby’s diagnosis.”
‘Does the baby look okay? Anxiety twisted knots inside me. Nobody quite saw the almond eyes, sweet smushed nose. Then, I said what we’d been internalizing all along.’ Mom diagnoses her own baby after doctors fail to see signs
“No family history? Phew, he doesn’t have it. Ears set low? He must have it. ‘I can’t see his face!’ I hoped the sweet, blonde tech knew this was code for, ‘Does my baby have Down Syndrome?’ There was stumbling, stuttering. ‘How old are you?’ Wait WHAT? Sirens were spinning in my head. This is it, I thought. He has IT.”