“Christmas feels different this year. I’m having a really hard time getting into the holiday spirit. Hours after getting my pelvic ultrasound done, my phone rang.You never want to hear words like complex, stat, and concern from your doctor. I decided to not tell a soul. I thought I was being brave. I thought I was saving others from getting all worked up. I thought I was being selfless. Ryan and I have been talking about when to tell our kids, or if we even should.”
‘I feel off. It could be minor. I don’t know. I just know something is off.’ My friend diagnosed me with perimenopause. ‘That’s not what I’m dealing with.’: Woman anxiously awaits results over holidays to see if cancer has returned, ‘We don’t want to worry our kids’
‘I can’t see him like this, Mom. Take me home.’ I laid my head on his chest, sobbing. ‘Chase, I love you so much.’: Wife’s ‘life altering’ journey since husband suddenly died in his sleep
“I remember walking in the house at 4:15 a.m. with the most empty feeling I had ever felt. I knew our son would be waking in a few short hours and I wasn’t ready to face reality so soon. I went to our bathroom, filled up the tub, and sat in a hot bath as I cried the little tears I had left. Then I went to Chase’s closet, pulled out his favorite sweats and a big oversized sweater and crawled into bed with his pillow. The sheets and everything smelled like him, and right then and there, I didn’t want to wake up.”
‘5 kids? You know how this happens, don’t you? Did you have all 5 on purpose?’: Mother of 5 children says despite the struggles, ‘these kids still run to hug me when I get home’
“Having many kids makes parenting into a super long marathon. And that is no joke when you may no longer be in your 30’s. But the blessings? They are no joke either.”
‘Something weird was happening to my body. My abdomen started to swell. I appeared 7 months pregnant. The second we left the clinic, fear invaded us.’ Mom births quadruplets, claims she wouldn’t ‘change it for anything in the world’
“‘There’s something out of the ordinary here.’ They extracted four liters of the mystery fluid from my body, but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. They performed several tests and it was determined that, health wise, I was fine. Soon after, I decided to do a pregnancy test. I was looking at not 1 or 2 embryos, but 4. Quadruplets!”
‘From the bathroom all he heard was, ‘BABE?!’ Just 2 weeks after meeting the birth mom, we found out we were pregnant. I was actually mad. ‘God why NOW?’: Couple gets pregnant when least expecting it, has beautiful open adoption
“I had a missed call. My husband then got a call. We looked at each other… ‘Answer it!’ ‘Louis, are you with Audrey?’ ‘Yes, she can hear you.’ The words she spoke stopped time for me. Everything she said next was hard to process. I was shocked. It all felt right. We felt a calmness that can’t be explained.”
‘We had been waiting a long time for this moment. Our doctor shared big news: ‘Congratulations, I see 2 heartbeats!’ She continued the ultrasound. Suddenly, the demeanor in her face changed.’
“The palms of my hands were sweaty as I interlaced my fingers with Ryan’s. It felt like it was taking forever for her to share with us what she was seeing in my womb.”
‘Wife finally gave in and let me buy ‘baby furniture.’ (Tool Cart) Feast your eyes on the Ultimate Diaper Changing Station for under $200.’
“Well guess whose evil planned worked! Throw in a LED light for those late night changes, and a side shelf for those much needed wipes. The most practical and functional changing station on the planet!”
‘He told me to follow him back into town, so he could fill up my tank and I could make it home.’
“After filling up my gas tank, he offered to buy me something to eat and drink.”
‘The Hidden Blessing of Single Parenting.’
“The moment we realize this blessing is more than recognition, a future spouse, friendships, prestige, or money, is when we can finally begin to understand it. Because it isn’t anything tangible or even visible to people around us.”
‘Following her down the aisle felt so right’: Bride’s ‘trailblazing’ GRANDMA FLOWER GIRL delivers powerful blessing for newlyweds
“I will never forget my grandmother’s presence or the tears in her eyes when she stood up to speak.”
