“My husband and I decided to stop fooling around. I loaded up 10 kids, rented a house in another state, and we hit the road. I waited for the final lab reports. I was making sandwiches. I’ll never forget which step I was on, because that’s how they stayed. Pregnant with our 11th baby, the surgeon’s number popped up on my phone. He asked me to walk away from the children. My heart screamed, ‘NOT MY BABY.’”
‘Wait. Is this normal?’ He turned his neck. My first thought, as a mama of 10, was lymph node. Then, I touched it. I knew.’: Mom admires 11-year-old son’s tenacity during cancer battle, ‘Told you I’d live’
‘I didn’t need his permission. I closed my eyes, clicked a button, and finally put an end to my pretending.’: It’s been one year since I stopped faking it on social media
“I posted our most recent family photos, and the comments poured in about how ‘perfect’ my family was. I knew things needed to change. I didn’t want people to just like my photos, I wanted them to like me, all of me—even the painful, grieving parts. I am a child who was abused by her father at 3 years old. A teenager who was the victim of statutory rape. I found my husband unresponsive on the floor with a failing heart.”
‘Yes, Meg. The baby is healthy, stop worrying.’ Coward. She knew. I saw it and felt sick. I didn’t want to hold her.’: Mom unknowingly births baby with Down syndrome, ‘I want to shout her worth to the world!’
“I grabbed a nurse’s arm as she walked by. ‘What’s wrong, is she okay?’ Stumbling over her words, she responded with, ‘Congratulations, she’s beautiful!’ Coward. She handed her to me before quickly walking out of the room, like she was some kind of damaged goods. Her tongue could barely fit in her mouth. I didn’t want to hold her, feed her, or even look at her. I was furious. All I could hear was that damn whispering.”
‘Your wife had a serious head trauma. She may not make it.’ I was covered with tubes and he lost it.’: Woman survives horrific car accident, gets married the same date of accident a year later to ‘redeem the day’
“3 weeks after getting engaged, I was T-boned by a Mac truck. ‘If this continues, we’ll lose her.’ He lost it. As he entered the room, he noticed my engagement ring had been removed. I was covered with tubes. He expected to recognize me. He didn’t. He held my hand and told me I was beautiful. ‘I want to marry you today more than I did the day I proposed,’ he told me.”
‘This isn’t right.’ We crossed the line by having pre-marital sex. We knew it was wrong. It’s difficult when you’re clouded with lust.’: Couple chooses celibacy before marriage, now pregnant with baby boy, ‘I can’t wait to share this experience with our children’
“Stephan always made me nervous. I’d try to dodge him while on campus. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attractive, but I’d been warned to stay away from ‘the frat boys.’ He invited me to his graduation where all his close friends and family gathered to celebrate. Then he just announced I was his girlfriend. I was as shocked as everyone else. His family and friends were ecstatic. Little did they know, my head was spinning.”
‘We couldn’t possibly have known. There was so much more ahead of us.’: Woman reminisces on being a clueless new mother, ‘You’ll all be OK because you already know the secret, how to love this baby’
“I just found this picture behind another photo in a frame and I’ve unearthed a memory. I see young me, about 3 weeks into my mom journey. I couldn’t possibly have known. And I’m glad I didn’t.”
‘My mom loves to decorate at Christmas. It’s a big deal to her. She begged me to go outside to make sure they were ‘just right.’ I didn’t want to.’: Daughter ‘couldn’t care less’ about holidays, but realizes ‘there’s always a reason to share genuine human spirit’
“Christmas? Forget it. It’s not for me. I like the quiet. For a girl like me, holidays are overwhelming. But my mom loves to decorate. She puts up 5 Christmas trees. She goes all out. She begged me to go outside with her to look at them. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t care less. Just then it hit me. She cares. It’s important to her.”
‘Kids can be so mean. Schools are breeding grounds for cliques. Teach them to be inclusive. Teach them not to judge, not to bully.’: Mom urges other parents to ‘teach your children to be nice’
“Our kids’ teachers have the math, reading, science, arts, and writing covered. And, Lord knows they make up for the parenting mistakes we are making at home. But, my goodness, what a ginormous favor we can do those educators, and the world, if we teach our children to be nice.”
‘The television host asked me to join him on stage to receive the ultimate crown of being his Queen.’: Woman shares struggles and fears as a ‘Mom-Boss-Manager’ and domestic abuse survivor
“I constantly worry about being the best wife, mother, employee, and creative. But the truth is, I’m not afraid to struggle because I know I’m not alone! I imagine the millions of other women, just like me, who aspire to master the art of being the wife every husband prays for.”
‘What am I doing wrong?’ I was left on my own to flounder. My nipples were bleeding and I was in pain.’: Mom ‘so embarrassed’ about not breastfeeding, finally urges ‘don’t ever feel the need to defend your decision’
“I was so drugged and drained physically my milk didn’t come in for days. My husband said, ‘As long as our baby is healthy and happy everything else doesn’t matter.’ But I didn’t feel the same. I was hopeless. We’d get the pre-made formula so we didn’t have to do any mixing when we left the house and no one would know. It was so stressful.”
