“We saw a heartbeat. This was actually happening. But I couldn’t shake the fear. I kept saying to people, ‘IF we bring this baby home.’ That’s when the words came: ‘There are multiple things wrong with your baby.’ We got to the parking lot, and I just screamed.”
‘The doctor came in, and instantly, the room felt off. ‘I’m surprised your baby made it this far.’ I felt like I blacked out.’: After multiple miscarriages, mom gives birth to baby with Trisomy 13, ‘To us, he was perfect’
‘Mom, why are you keeping a homework assignment?’ I had to sit facing her. I wanted her to know I wasn’t afraid.’ Mom shares grief journey after losing daughter to cancer, ‘We’re going to be okay’
“We walk in the room, and stand quietly. I start to cry. Well, that was fast. One outfit sends you spinning into a memory. We had stopped at a light and flagged down a police officer to escort us. She was bleeding everywhere. The outfit was ruined.”
‘How the hell did you get in here?’ I woke up one Sunday morning and he was gone. I never got a goodbye.’: Widow gets touching signs from late husband
“A monarch butterfly landed on me. He just sat there, pulsing his beautiful wings — for what seemed hours. ‘You again?’ I said. ‘God, I miss you,’ I whispered…to a damn butterfly. It’s been 2 years, and I’m still looking.”
‘I was prepared for the hurts that call for a kiss and cuddle. I wasn’t prepared for the hurts I couldn’t fix.’: Mom talks parenting during trauma, ‘It isn’t something you can navigate, it is theirs’
“I thought I could protect my child well enough. A trusted big person took advantage of them.”
‘I left widow groups because my loss doesn’t get compassion like others.’: Woman reflects on overdose awareness day, ‘I loved him and he loved me’
“People ask me all the time if I knew. What I knew was that I loved him. I spend a lot of time asking who is to blame.”
‘My child may have died, but my love – and my motherhood – never will. Not a second passes when I am not aware of my child’s absence.’: Woman pens letter for bereaved mothers
“Please, just sit beside me. Say nothing. Do not offer a cure. Or a pill, or a word, or a potion. Witness my suffering and don’t turn away from me. Please be gentle with me. And I will try to be gentle with me too.”
‘My husband died on a Saturday. Monday, we planned the funeral. Thursday, I started a new job. I thought if I stayed busy, it would fix the brokenness.’: Woman urges self care for fellow widows, ‘It’s a daily battle’
“What no one prepares you for is what happens after the last sympathy card is opened and people have moved on. I stuffed away every bad feeling. I am a broken person trying to piece my life back together.”
‘I was told my chances of getting pregnant were 15%. To this, I took the Pee Wee Herman approach of ‘LA-LA-LA-LA I can’t hear you.’: Woman gives advice for those struggling with infertility, ‘Know your options’
“You probably spent your whole life trying to NOT get pregnant. Taking the pill, using condoms, panicking when your period was a few days late, taking a pregnancy test with your girlfriends and praying you wouldn’t see two pink lines. Now here you are, desperately hoping.”
‘I kept saying, ‘she’s beautiful,’ over and over. I knew I was giving birth to death.’: Mom and siblings honor baby born sleeping, ‘Thinking she’s been forgotten is excruciating’
“A sickening feeling took over and my chest tightened when the attending physician walked in. I could see bad news written on everyone’s faces, but I still didn’t believe it. We were left with ashes in a cardboard box.”
‘The midwife said, ‘You have to let her go.’ Her arms and legs moved around, as if she was searching for me.’: Couple lose baby due to missing DNA, ‘In her 50 minutes of life, we hope she knew nothing but love’
“I desperately wanted the pain and labor to end. However, I wasn’t ready for her to come out. I just wasn’t ready to let her go, for I knew it meant she would be leaving me. I remember half pushing and half trying to hold her back.”
