“People are constantly telling you how you should feed your kids. When does it all stop? I felt the need to please everyone, all the time. I became a pleaser. For the fear of letting anyone down, I did whatever I could to make everyone happy. Meanwhile, I was losing myself.”
‘Why are you still nursing her? Isn’t she too OLD for that?’ Mom shamed for breastfeeding 1-year-old daughter
‘I removed my breast implants. Within minutes, I was attacked by a man. ‘You look like a little boy. Where did your breasts go?’ It felt like a punch in my gut.’
“He proceeded to tell me that smaller chests were meant for middle school and that real women had ‘grown up’ bodies. Ouch.”
‘From the master bathroom, I bellowed, ‘I NEED LOVE!’ This is my passive-aggressive way to gain his attention. My husband drops his phone as if it suddenly caught fire, and is at my side in a flash.’
“My husband, who’d been taking in my every word, looks at me, solemnly. ‘Wow,’ is all he can formulate. ‘That seems like a lot.’ I sincerely thought motherhood would look different.”
‘I felt a POP down you know where. ‘No! This can’t be!’ Tears streaming, I peeked between my legs. ‘What do we do now?’ I wanted a ‘perfect’ pregnancy. I now know I was totally oblivious.’
“We hadn’t prepared for this scenario. ‘NO!’ I cried. ‘I don’t want a c-section! Please! I don’t want a c-section!’ Crazy-eyed, I waddled as gushes of warm liquid ran down my legs. I completely lost it!”
‘A nurse approached me. ‘You’re going in now.’ I could see my mother’s eyes watering. Terrified, I took one final glimpse at my leg. I didn’t expect what was coming next.’
“They took me away. Everything felt weird. I put on a brave face. It was going to be my first ever surgery, and it was a BIG one. It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made. Watching my mother accept that her oldest son was going to have his leg cut off was heart-breaking for me.”
‘At 17, I got pregnant with an older man with 3 kids. Months after labor, blood was trickling from my baby’s mouth. ‘Everything is going to be okay. It has to be.’ I begged him to breathe.’
“He was unusually fussy the night before, but eventually fell asleep. I got up to make lunch and then it happened. I cry. I fall. I cannot breathe. I need to call my mom. She thinks it’s a joke. The police are here to question us.”
‘At 19, I got pregnant and relapsed. My son wasn’t enough to stop me. I continued to use behind his back. I went back to hiding it, and was caught by my son’s father.’
“My friend introduced me to a better way to get high: injecting. He left when I got pregnant. I looked at myself in the mirror. ‘What are you doing? You are worth so much more.’ I wanted my kids to have love, but first, I had to find it myself.”
‘My husband told me breast implants would help ‘spice things up’. I was 22 and wanted to feel feminine. I constantly found him viewing pornography, which made me feel undesirable.’
“My joints were swollen and I couldn’t wear my wedding ring anymore. My hair started falling out in chunks that would clog the drain. I figured it was just part of being a new mom and shook it off. No doctor could figure out what was wrong.”
‘One second. One stoplight. I heard him yell. There were no flashing lights, no warning signs. I kept praying he’d just open his eyes.’ Little boy dies 3 times, meets mother’s miscarried babies while in coma
“‘Landon, do you know where your dad is?’ He looked me in the eyes. ‘Yes, I do. He’s in heaven. I saw your other kids there, too.’ I knew what he was talking about, but how did he know? I had two miscarriages before he was born. We never told him. He was only 8 years old.”
‘There’s not just one healthy baby. There’s TWO!’ My husband fell to the floor in shock. I had a huge pit in the bottom of my stomach. ‘There must be some mistake!’
“She stepped out of the room to give my OB a call. My mind went crazy. She must’ve been calling for backup. I was crying in complete confusion. Two? TWINS? No one gets pregnant and thinks ‘Yay! I’m going to have babies!’ It’s always, ‘Yay! I’m going to have A baby!’ But I had this strange feeling in my chest.”
