“What Matthew lacked in size, he made up for in personality. ‘God, if you’re going to take him, please let me be there with him.’ I was determined to squeeze in every second I could.”
‘Do you want to hold your baby?’ Through tears I repeated, ‘No, you need to keep trying.’ Matthew had been fighting to live well before he was born.’: Mom details life and loss of preemie child, ‘Andrew and Allison are here because, not instead of him’
‘Is it strange to be pregnant with someone else’s baby? The seed was planted. ‘Go meet your daddies.’: Woman ‘honored’ after navigating surrogacy journey twice
“I asked if I could see her face for a moment before they took her. We heard her crying and they brought over this new, perfect baby. I kissed her cheek, welcomed her to the world and told her to go meet her daddies.”
‘Our newborn photographer said, ‘Coincidentally, my daughter has it too.’ I’ll never forget her next words: ‘Appreciate his bare chest. Soon, it will be scarred forever.’: Mom details emotional journey with son’s Congenital Heart Disease
“I’ll never forget her next words: ‘Appreciate his bare chest. Soon enough, it will be scarred forever.’ Every day, I am reminded of my son’s disease in the form of an exclamation point on his chest.”
‘3…2…1.’ Darkness. I awoke to women in overalls. ‘Do you know where you are Mrs. Knowles? Elvis didn’t make it. Would you like to see him?’ I just wept and nodded.’: Mom to angel baby details journey, ‘Grief is love with nowhere to go’
“Empty-eyed, my husband wheeled a grey bassinet into the room. ‘I’m sorry. So, so sorry.’ I’d spent the last 2 years teaching women how to birth babies, yet I couldn’t. Elvis was cold in my arms, but so beautiful. I swore I saw his little chest rise and heard a little grunt, but my mind played tricks on me. I held him as the last pulses of energy left his little body.”
‘The news was a parent’s WORST nightmare. ‘We found a tumor.’ There was NO way we could do this alone. Being strong was our only option.’: Mom gives birth to twins, one with heart defect, while daughter battles cancer, ‘It’s been a long year’
“We were determined to give him a chance at life. They told us there was a 50% chance he would make it to 5. We accepted this as our new normal and felt TOTALLY mentally prepared. Or so we thought.”
‘I’ll see her in one month IF she makes it until then.’ He asked if we were related, multiple times. I was APPALLED.’: Mom births baby with dwarfism, ‘She’s doing AMAZING’
“I looked down at her hands and knew something was off. The mom in me knew. ‘So she’s going to be small? No big deal!’ We could tell there was something else he wasn’t telling us.”
‘Maybe this isn’t going to happen for us.’ We prepared for bad news. Then the doctor yelled, ‘There’s two!’: Couple welcomes rainbow twins after infertility journey, ‘I’m still in awe’
“We went through one more round, knowing this would be it. The doctor came out to the waiting room and our hearts dropped. Instead, she said, ‘I hope you’re ready for twins.’”
‘Someone commented on my postpartum appearance. I cried instantly. You have a choice, every day. Will you heal or will you hurt?’: New mom receives hurtful comment, ‘It did a number on my heart’
“It did a number on my already-raw heart. A week later, I was FaceTiming my mother-in-law. I kept the camera angled towards my husband Luke—careful to ensure no one caught a glimpse of my healing body I was suddenly insecure about. During the call, I was thrust into the camera view.”
‘Please, get me my husband!’ I could only hold her tiny hand through a hole in a plastic box.’: NICU baby survives the odds, ‘She’s tiny but so strong’
‘They watched helplessly as I was wheeled away. ‘Is she breathing?’ She was so tiny but SO strong.”
‘I’m 5’7″ and my husband is 6’3″. How could this be?’ We had no family history.’: Mom celebrates daughter with Dwarfism, ‘It’s part of what makes her perfect’
“The tech printed off the ultrasound photos and joked, ‘Your baby looks bald.’ After getting measurements of her arms and legs a few times, she left me alone. As the minutes ticked by, it started to click—something was wrong. The doctor came in, sat down, and passed me a box of tissues. My mind was spinning.”
