“Her words became jumbled…like she was speaking into a tin can in slow motion. Her face contorted into a shape I will never forget. She’d never been sick, never had health issues. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We rushed to the hospital. ‘I need to give her a kiss and tell her how much I love her.’ We went from newlyweds to part of a club no one signs up for.”
‘We eloped. 3 weeks later, my wife said her stomach was bothering her. ‘I need to call 911! I screamed. Her words became jumbled, her face contorted.’: LGBTQ+ newlywed details sudden journey with stroke, Moyamoya disease
‘He told me, ‘It’s all in your head.’ I hoped something bad would happen to me so I’d be taken seriously.’: High schooler diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension undergoes open heart surgery, ‘I’m grateful for this second chance at life’
“Band camp started. I was having trouble breathing and couldn’t walk to class. I was given an inhaler to use, but it didn’t help. One specialist said I would never get better.”
‘It’s okay, baby, you can go.’ With tear-filled eyes, we held our little boy’s body as his soul went peacefully to Heaven to join his big brother.’: Parents lose newborn to Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia
“My stomach dropped. Katy, still recovering from childbirth, fell to her knees in shock. ‘We’ve done everything we could possibly do.’ It was and is still excruciating. ‘One day, you will be able to ask God why this happened. But when you’re able to ask God why, it won’t matter because you’ll be with your baby.’”
‘I knew something was wrong just by looking at him. ‘It’s not a blood clot. You have a 5-inch mass in between your heart and your lungs.’: Woman diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma fights to live for her daughter, ‘I’m too young to die. I have a 3-year-old daughter who needs her mom.’
“My first symptom hit like a ton of bricks. I felt heaviness in my chest I couldn’t explain. We had to run to catch our connecting flight. This is the exact moment I knew. I could not run. I WANTED to, but my body wouldn’t let me. I ate well and exercised often, so I knew something was very, very wrong. My friends said it sounded like I was having an anxiety attack. ‘I’m only 32 years old. How can this happen?’ Our lives changed forever.”
‘I don’t see arms.’ The sonographer takes too long rubbing the wand over my belly. Everything goes silent.’: After ‘repeat miscarriages,’ mom births ‘miracle, rainbow baby’ with TAR Syndrome
“We told our family about Nicholas’ lack of arms. ‘Do you think you should keep him?’ That question BROKE my heart. Having to confront the fact others disagreed with me was as painful as my miscarriages. Was I sentencing him to a painful life? People who didn’t know would talk of all the things he’d accomplish. It all felt like lies.”
‘Momma, why can’t I walk like my friends?’ His legs were sticking straight up in the air, unable to bend. A lady in Walmart was staring long and hard.’
“His 6-year-old brother stepped in. He said, ‘What’s wrong? Haven’t you ever seen a kid in a wheelchair?’ I’ve lost count of the number of times a parent has told their children, ‘Stay away from that child!'”
‘It’s time to let go.’ They wrapped him in his Superman blanket. Daddy held his little boy, for the last time.’: Couple lose first child to extremely rare YARS2 disorder, ‘Every single day we miss his smell, his little personality’
“This was no ‘ear infection.’ How could I not have known? The walk to the hospital was silent. When we got to his room, he was still warm. It was the first time we’d seen him without tape, monitors, and wires all over. He was absolutely beautiful. I cried and kissed his cheeks. ‘I’m so proud of you. You were so strong. Thank you for letting me be your mommy.’ I cuddled him like I did the first day he was born. I gave him one final kiss, and handed him to his daddy.”
‘What’s wrong?’ My tattoo artist emerged from the back, visibly shaking, crying. ‘I just HAD to take in this moment.’: Mom loses twins, ‘uncommon’ first names combine to match name of tattoo artist’s late grandmother
“He’d gone back to trace the footprints of my babies, Leonor and Buchanan, both stillbirths. I was wondering what was taking so long, and started to worry my tattoo couldn’t be done. ‘I don’t want you to think I’m crazy,’ he said. ‘But my grandmother’s name was Leonor Buchanan. She just passed.’ I looked at him in complete shock.”
‘I blankly looked at the doctor. ‘What does this mean?’ He replied, ‘Hope you don’t go deaf.’ They gave me a discharge note. ‘I could drop dead at any time.’
“Would you ever think a blood clot could save your life? My phone dinged with a new email from the lab, I nervously signed in and opened the attachment. ‘No way!’ I shouted out loud, was I reading this right?”
‘We ended up accidentally getting pregnant after knowing each other for only a month. A few weeks later, that dream dissolved before our eyes.’: Mom suffers 2 miscarriages, gives birth to 2 ‘beautiful rainbow babies’
“I went into shock, paralyzed by what I’d just seen. All of a sudden, I heard a noise I couldn’t recognize. It was coming from me. A deep, loud, moaning scream; the sound of grief and disbelief. We were wheeled up to delivery and I remember a man telling my husband, ‘Good luck and congratulations,’ as he thought we were going to deliver a healthy baby. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d ever have to pick an urn for one of our children.”
