“I asked to be put on medication. My doctor said to me, ‘Are you sure it’s not just the pressure of Christmas?’ ‘NO!’ I wanted to scream, ‘This is why mothers don’t speak out. Because people belittle us. They tell us to cope.’ I was so angry. I accepted the prescription and left. I knew I needed to do something more than medication. I felt like the worst mom ever.”
‘This is easy, just wait until they’re older.’ I cried into her bib. I struggled to say ‘I love you’ to my baby. I shut down completely.’: Mom suffers postpartum depression, fights for help, ‘Every day is a battle, but I know I can win’
‘A portion of her chromosome is missing.’ We had to prick her on the foot to get her conscious again.’: Mom of special needs twins, one with a chromosomal deficit, one autistic, says ‘I never imagined my journey as a mom would look this way’
“A few weeks later, we received the results. ‘Julius has a diagnosis of autism.’ I went from raising one special needs child to two. I learned quickly I would not be able to have typical ‘mom’ conversations with other new moms. I realized most things parents took for granted were not part of my journey.”
‘How could this happen?!’ I found myself unexpectedly pregnant at 40. Then the doctor said, ‘Syndrome.’ I held back tears.’: Mom births baby with down syndrome, ‘The minute I saw her sweet little head red hair, I fell in love’
“My phone rang while I was asleep. It was my doctor on the other end. ‘Your testing came back positive for Trisomy 21. I’m sorry.’ I started ugly crying. ‘How on Earth could this happen to me?!’ At 36 weeks pregnant, I noticed the baby hadn’t been moving. I did all the things I knew I needed to do. I ate, drank, lay down on my side. Still, I didn’t feel anything. I called the nurse. ‘Come in right away.’ I drove so fast. She hooked me up to monitors. I knew immediately my baby was in trouble. She was in distress.”
‘Your dad thought he could hit me, but you will NEVER hit me. I’ll kill you first.’ She was a 400-pound woman. I was a 9-year-old child.’: Woman survives child abuse and PTSD, repairs relationship with abusers, ‘I was born a SURVIVOR’
“She had me by my pigtails. She cornered me into our closet using a man’s belt to spank me. A friend saw her, and told her if she ever hit me again, he’d tell his dad. Later my mom tried having me committed to a mental hospital. After a 24-hour sit in at the ER, a doctor came in. ‘There is nothing wrong with you, except the fact you need to get away from your mother.’ I wanted a mom who WANTED to be my mom.”
‘Not many husbands would support their wives bringing someone else’s baby into the world, but mine did.’: Woman births 2 rainbow babies after infertiliy, becomes surrogate for struggling couple
“The day before my vacation to the Caribbean, I realized my period was late. I spoke to my mom on the drive home from work. I’ll never forget her words: ‘Honey, it will probably be negative, but you will be drinking on your trip. Just take the test for peace of mind. ‘ I took it that night. It was POSITIVE! I laid there in so much pain, sobbing, and praying for a miracle.”
‘After my C-section, I heard, ‘Wow! He’s got a big birthmark on his face.’: Baby is born with Port-Wine Stain and Sturge-Weber Syndrome, ‘Never did I think I would have to consider what anti-seizure medication would best keep my child thriving.’
“A bright reddish-purple color covered more than half of my newborn son’s face. ‘Will this birthmark fade? Will it get worse? What will other people think? Can this lead to other health issues?’ Looking back now, those first months of Leo’s life, I was living in fear. I was consumed by anxiety, exhaustion, and confusion.”
‘Looks like you have two babies in there. Oh wait, sorry, three babies!’ There was already a complication. ‘High risk? Mono-what? They had a 50% chance of not making it to birth.’: Mom of five reflects on high-risk triplet pregnancy
“I was staring at the biggest shock of my life. But multiples don’t run in either of our families, so I knew it was unlikely. The fact they were mono-mono twins gave them a 50% chance of not making it to birth.”
‘48 years old, weeks shy of our 25th wedding anniversary, I’m expecting a baby.’: Woman shocked by successful IVF after being diagnosed with unexplained infertility, ‘I can hardly believe it’
“A long, lost friend sent us a beautiful Christmas card. She had given birth to twins. I didn’t even know it was possible at our age. ‘My oldest daughter just started college,’ I told her. Yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibilities. The doctor told me all of the egg donors would be Taiwanese. There was a lot of red tape to endure. Cautiously, I walked out the door. I was so fearful the embryos might fall out of me. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize this.”
‘There is no such thing as ‘my body before pregnancy’ and ‘my body after’ it’s simply, ‘my body.’: New mom discovers postpartum body ‘may look different now, but I haven’t changed bodies like an outfit’
“I was ignorant about how my life would be reshaped in the days and weeks to follow. Your emotions soar to new heights and dip to new lows. ‘Have we rushed into being parents? Our lives were so easy before our son – now look!’ You don’t know how it will be until you’re ‘in it.”
‘You probably won’t be able to pull off a vaginal delivery due to your size.’ My doctor commented on my weight at my first appointment.’: Woman shares struggles of being plus-size, ‘I was so quick to hate on my body, to grab the rolls and want to rip them off’
“I felt as if every person in the room was judging me for eating. ‘She carries snacks in her bag? No wonder she’s fat.’ Why did I feel like this for simply trying to provide myself with nourishment? I just wanted to be pretty. Skinny. There were horror stories of doctors being prejudiced to mothers for being bigger, calling them fat like it was nothing. I was horrified. The moment I held my son for the first time, I realized how truly amazing my body was, even though I was plus-size. I did that!”
