“She looked lifeless and was covered in wires. ‘You are so loved. I fought so hard to be with you.’ I soon became too weak to hold her. I realized I was bleeding. I tried to say, ‘Something’s wrong!’ but I passed out.”
‘This never happens. You’re safe.’ Black women are FOUR times more likely to die during childbirth.’: Mom and baby beat odds, ‘Our bond is unbreakable
‘He grabbed the doctor by his white coat. ‘What did you say?!’ He looked unsettled.’: Mom births baby with Down syndrome, autism, ‘Bumpy roads can be fun too’
“My contractions started suddenly, like five-minutes apart. I froze and went into shock. I remember my nerves taking over and my body shaking uncontrollably. ‘This baby needs to come out NOW.’ My heart became so heavy, it felt like it sank, and we just held hands and cried together.”
‘Something ain’t right.’ She NEEDED HELP. The response was, ‘Sorry, but insurance won’t pay any longer.’: Widower lost wife after childbirth due to negligence, ‘Her name will ring forever’
“She was a wreck, but the nurse came in with the news it was time for us to pack up and go. I urged the doctor to keep us there. ‘Insurance won’t pay.’ I can still feel the wind from doctors running past me, responding to the ‘code black.’ It haunts me.”
‘She walks slowly toward labor and delivery, cradling her tight, swollen belly. Life as she knows it will never be the same.’: Woman urges to new moms ‘you are completely enough’
“Mama, can’t you see your transformation? I wish those corridors could applaud you. Then you would see the strength you possess. I wish those halls could rock you. To ensure you felt safe and supported. I wish those walls could whisper. So you would know that however your birth played out, you were amazing.”
‘Ezra is sick and I can’t get to him!’ We sat in tears while they operated on him in front of us.’: Mom loses baby to Congenital Leukemia, ‘He worked so hard to make sure we got to meet him’
“The doctor explained, ‘Ezra has bleeding on the brain that we can’t stop.’ We were told they believed the kindest thing to do was to turn his life support machine off. She asked me so many questions about what I did during my pregnancy, as if something I had done may have caused it.”
‘We received our test results: positive. I’d done so much to avoid being infected. But there I was, staring at the inevitable rear its ugly head.’: Family recovering from COVID-19 urges ‘love hard, tomorrow is not promised’
“What we experienced is considered ‘mild.’ But believe me, by no means necessary, did it feel anything near mild. I prayed my kids would not get sick. One by one, they each started to have a low-grade fever.”
‘I’ve written him a prescription for 10 narcotics.’ HOLD UP A MINUTE! A vasectomy is more painful than pushing out an 8-pound baby?’: Wife given ibuprofen after childbirth infuriated by husband’s special treatment at same hospital
“This baby was 2 pounds heavier than my others. My hemorrhoids were raging. ‘Your only option is ibuprofen,’ the nurse explained. Huh? I was told they’ve done away with narcotics after birth and only C-section patients are allowed to have stronger medication. A month later, my husband went in for his vasectomy. His procedure was at the exact same hospital I’d just given birth in. I about fell out of my chair!”
‘She started hysterically laughing. ‘So far I’ve found 3.’ After already having twins! Complete shock.’: Mother births twins, then triplets, then twins again, ‘We were completely dumbfounded’
“It was EXTREMELY rare. After hearing the news, we walked across the street and got pedicures, because what else do you do when you find out you’re pregnant with triplets? After already having twins! I don’t think we said a word to each other the entire time – we were completely dumbfounded.”
‘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!”
