“I remember picking him up out of his crib and just holding him with tears in my eyes.”
‘It doesn’t feel real.’: World’s most premature baby overcomes 0% chance of survival to celebrate 1st birthday
‘At 15, I started numbing my grief with drugs and alcohol. Two years later, I was pregnant.’: Teen mom shares mental health, healing journey, ‘I did it against all odds’
“I apprehensively showed him the test, thinking surely he’d turn around and run the other way. Instead, he hugged me as my mascara ran down my face, telling me, ‘Everything will be okay.’ I knew he was going to change my life.”
‘She probably still has fluid in her ears from the delivery.’ I knew it was more.’: Mom advocates for hard of hearing daughter, ‘It’s not something to apologize for or fear’
“‘Love her like you would a normal child.’ Would people really think Charlotte wasn’t a ‘normal’ child or we wouldn’t love the crap out of her? And what is ‘normal’ anyway?”
‘I immediately lost it. ‘I’m NEVER going to be able to have kids of my own’ was on repeat in my head’: Woman shares emotional infertility journey
“‘Maybe I’m just a late bloomer.’ The doctor struggled to get the words out. Tears filled my eyes. Everyone I knew was beginning the family, and I longed for a baby of my own.”
‘Love doesn’t have a color.’: Foster parents refuse to give up on traumatized boy, adopt him into forever home
“People would read his file and get scared away. But I knew he was a good child who had experienced a lot of trauma.”
‘I awoke to three strangers standing in our living room, grave concern on their faces. ‘Their mom hasn’t been here.’ I was driven away by police car, anxious and confused.’: Former foster youth urges ‘you aren’t your circumstances’
“We finally arrived at our destination. A modest green house with a chain link fence. Standing at the sidewalk was a petite elderly woman with a white t-shirt, floral skirt, and hair pulled in a high bun. She greeted me with a smile. ‘Hi Jamerika,’ she said, as if she knew me her whole life.”
‘Every time I gave birth, I awoke the dormant beasts inside me.’: Mom of 3 shares journey to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Lupus diagnoses
“I started wearing sunglasses indoors. My hair was falling out in chunks, my gums bleeding. Sounds hurt. The very smell of air made me sick. I was a shell of myself, withering away, barely hanging on. But then I thought of my little girl. She was so small, not even talking yet. How would she remember me? Who would teach her to do her hair? I had to stop planning my goodbyes, and start fighting.”
I No Longer Look At My Husband The Way I Did On Our Wedding Day
“When you’re planning to get married, they tell you it’s gonna be hard. But there’s one thing no one tells you before you say your vows: expect to fall out of love.”
‘WHAT the heck?’ The test came back positive. He had the full-mutation, and I was the carrier.’: Special needs mom shares son’s journey to thriving with Fragile X Syndrome
“Did I bring this on myself? Did I drink that glass of wine too soon? Was it because that damn delivery doctor left him in the birth canal too long? I started blaming myself.”
‘How could she NOT know he was gay?’ He signed over his parental rights. Then, I met a man.’: Mom details journey of divorce, parent loss, remarriage
“’I need to tell you something.’ I had an 8-week-old and a 2-year-old. Why was all of this happening to me at once? I was signing my divorce papers in the ICU waiting room, while my dad was in the next room fighting for his life.”
