“At the end of this long, exhausting appointment, Charity says, ‘Oh, and congratulations on your baby.’ Congratulations on our baby? You mean the one you told me is going to die? I ran out of that room so fast. Despite it all, his broken heart kept beating. I recall a single tear escaping my eye and falling on his face.”
‘He opened his beautiful, dark grey eyes, wise beyond his years. We made him comfortable, and waited.’: Mom vows ‘as long as I live, Daniel’s memory will too’ after losing son to congenital heart defect
‘My mom still waves goodbye to me. She stands out on her driveway and waves.’: Daughter ‘thinks of her mom’ when grieving how fast her own child are growing up
“She still cares about me like she did when I was a kid. She can’t help herself. As I’ve gotten older, my mom still does the same motherly things she’s always done, now for me and my babies. I love how precious she is to me.”
‘Her little chest was open. She was swollen, double her size. She didn’t look like my baby. A nurse calmly said, ‘I don’t feel a pulse.’ All I could say was, ‘NO!’ Over and over.’ Single mom touched by stranger’s act of kindness after hours spent in ER
“I realized I had just watched my baby die. My seven-day-old flat lined and died in front of me. I couldn’t believe how calm they were. Completely restless and emotionally ruined, I posted in a local mom group. ‘I can’t leave my daughter alone, but I really need a coffee.'”
‘A little boy saw you and yelled, ‘You’re brown, you’re not supposed to be brown!’ My heart dropped to the floor. You had the most innocent look on your face.’
“The boy’s mom quickly said, ‘He is brown, but he’s beautiful.’ The little boy yelled again, ‘No, he’s not. He’s NOT beautiful, because he’s brown!’ In the moment, I couldn’t even open my mouth.”
‘I was SO nervous the morning of the surprise. I felt like I was back in high school, about to give a dreadful speech. I watched my recycling driver cry tears of joy. The burden was instantly lifted.’
“I thought that would be it. I was wrong. What is a mundane task to many is a big deal around here.”
‘Your heart rate is fast and it skips. We don’t know why. You are young, you will grow out of it.’ The appointments were worthless. The doctor wrote me off as a hypochondriac.’
“I was angry. Enraged is more like it. I realized my major problems started at the end of 2013. What had I done differently that year? I had birth control inserted in my arm. It was just a hunch, but I knew deep down I was right.”
‘There’s good news and there’s bad news,’ my dad told me. ‘The good news is they found out what’s wrong with Mom.’ I didn’t know how much longer I could hang on.’
“After 2 years of troubling behavior with my mom, and doctors assuring us there was nothing wrong, we finally had concrete answers. Dad’s voice caught in his throat and tears welled in his eyes. He said the word we most feared.”
‘I discovered a bag he had given me. When I opened it, I found something I never knew was in there. I’ll never forget reading the words I didn’t know I needed to hear.’
“I never fully looked through the bag when he gave it to me. But when I went through all the items on this day, I found something – something I had once told Dad I would love to have after he was gone.”
‘I remember falling into his arms, bawling. ‘It’s not fair! Why me?’ I desperately wanted a normal, healthy baby. I remember walking to the car, feeling as if someone died.’
“I immediately cried to my mom. ‘What if I’m embarrassed of my own child?’ Our little girl’s heart was broken. She had a hole right in the center of it. I prayed for mine to be broken instead.”
‘Do you know where you are?’ I shook my head yes. ‘Do you know who I am?’ Yes, I nodded, grabbing his wedding band. Then, Jeremy left the room. I coded 3 more times.’
“‘Do you know who Lisa and Jerry are?’ Again, I nodded yes. I recognized my parents’ names. ‘Do you know who Jamee and Isabella are?’ I couldn’t recall. The names seemed foreign. My own children.”
