“As we walked toward the doctor’s office, the fear made my body cold. I would feel my anxiety bubbling up, making it harder to breathe. I wanted to pull away from my mom. Stop getting closer. I became aware infants and children are still treated without any pain control. ‘They just swaddle them and do the treatment really fast,’ I was told. Babies? How could anyone do this? ‘It doesn’t really hurt.’ Reading this made me want to vomit. The memories of the pain and being held down is so visceral for me.”
‘My fingertips gripped the vinyl. It felt like ‘hot rubber band snaps.’ My mom had to hold me down. For a child who doesn’t understand, it’s torture.’: Woman with port wine stain advocates for ‘torture’ pain control, ‘It felt like hot needles into my brain.’
‘You’re the 5th person to overdose by 3 p.m. today. You’re the lucky one,’ the nurse said. My grandma saw me turning blue. I didn’t feel lucky.’: Woman addicted to heroin gets clean, ‘There are not enough words of gratitude. I would have missed it all.’
“The only time I was high enough was if I was close to an overdose. He shoved the gun into my temple and screamed at my using buddy to give him the money. To be honest, at that moment, I wish he would have pulled the trigger. My arm was swollen four times its normal size the next morning. One person held me while the other drained my arm. I was just going to do a little bit and then go pick my daughters up from daycare.”
‘My doctor complained I need to work out more,’ my pregnant friend said. She looked down at her big belly. I was HEATED.’: Mom reminds us pregnant bellies ‘come in all shapes and sizes’
“Today at a play space with my daughters, I ran into a mom friend who I hadn’t seen in about a year. She was obviously pregnant. ‘Congrats! How are you feeling?’ She looked down at her belly. ‘Just big.’ She went on to explain her doctor complained she ‘needed to work out more.’ She was not only PREGNANT, but raising 3 kids. Guys, this got me heated. Like, breathing fire out of my nose and mouth heated.”
‘Don’t say, ‘When can I see the baby?’ Say, ‘Let me know when you’re ready for visitors.’: Post-labor mom reminds us ‘there is nothing more vulnerable than a freshly postpartum momma’
“Truth is, she’s labored NAKED in front of an audience of nurses and doctors. She’s had eyes and hands all over her lady bits. She literally just expelled another human being from her body through her vagina or from being cut open. She carried this little being for 9 long months and probably isn’t eager to have others just come in and sweep him/her away as soon as they take their first breath. If you are a friend or family member of a new mom, don’t just EXPECT to pop in at YOUR convenience.”
‘I took my son’s temperature, and wow! A fever. I did NOT send him to school. The well-being of my son and his classmates is more important.’: Mom urges parents to keep sick kids at home
“Your child is still contagious until they are fever-free, WITHOUT medication, for 24 hours.”
‘This child will be a burden to you.’ Her chocolate eyes shot through my screen. ‘Oh, crap.’ A feeling washed over. ‘There you are, my child.’: Woman adopts girl with spina bifida, epilepsy
“A feeling washed over me. The exact same wave that washed over when they placed my biological children on my chest in the delivery room. ‘There you are, my child.’ Stroking my cheek, I felt her 28 pounds snuggle into mine. ‘Mommy, I’m so glad you found me in Armenia. I missed you even when I didn’t know you.’ She fed my soul, and she doesn’t even know it.”
‘Dear husband, don’t ask how you can help. Just do something—ANYTHING.’: Mom urges ‘do something big or small’ to help your partner
“You stare blankly at me. Again. ‘What can I do?’ you ask. Again. I’m tired of delegating and constantly giving what I feel like are ‘orders.’ You’re a great dad, a great man. You work hard. ‘He’s such a nice guy!’ they always say. They’re right—you are. But I’m at my breaking point.”
‘I’d hold my breasts in each hand. ‘Who would I be without these?’: Woman opens up about her journey to self-love, ‘My body wasn’t a temple. I definitely didn’t treat it like one.’
“I used to get changed in P.E. and look at all the other girls around me. My hips were wider, my legs were thicker, and my stomach had a ‘flab’ to it. I was already in a C cup by the time I turned 12. I couldn’t bear being naked in front of my boyfriend. I would wear baggy t-shirts during sex, and he wasn’t allowed to see my boobs without a bra–I had forbidden that! My ex-boyfriends would tell me if I just lost weight, I’d be ‘unreal.’”
‘Put the device away!,’ a lady was yelling at me. ‘I’m deaf, this is a closed caption device for the movie.’: Woman diagnosed with ‘profound hearing loss,’ credits daughter for giving her ‘strength’
“Hands pointed at me as they whispered to each other, ‘She is deaf.’ I feared my daughter would not understand me. I feared I would not hear my daughter. One day, when she was in 2nd grade, a boy made her upset by making fun of my accent. She said, ‘My mom is deaf!’ This was just the beginning for her to witness my challenges. I sobbed as soon as we got home. My daughter comforted me, cried with me.”
‘To the family of the other 7 passengers: Every time I think of Kobe and Gigi, I think of your loved ones, too.’: Woman shares letter to other passengers in helicopter crash with Kobe Bryant
“I cannot imagine what was said amongst the 9 of them when they realized their fate. The fear in their eyes, the white on their knuckles. But what I do know is when that helicopter went down on Sunday morning, NINE people walked into Heaven together. Not two.”
