“While she focuses on her baby and the work she must do on this day, I will focus on her. I hold a crown in my hand and a tenderness in my heart that I give to her when she feels weak. But I do not worry, for she is everything that child needs.”
‘I am not a doula to hold babies, I am a doula to hold mothers who so often come in last.’: Doula says ‘I will honor and serve these selfless women’
‘You didn’t choose to be separated from your mommy and lay to wait for a stranger to pick you up, but we, your nurses, will choose you.’: Mom pens appreciation letter to fellow nurses
“We will choose to not just complete our required tasks, but to take every free moment to hold you close. We will choose to pray over your life, for safety and protection wherever you may go. It is our joy to choose you.”
‘I tested positive. The next day, I went into labor. My oxygen levels were dropping. Every time I took a breath, I’d cough over and over.’: Mom wakes from ventilator after battling COVID-19 during labor
“My nurse came into my room and put a chair beside me with tears in her eyes. ‘You’re dying. Do you want to call anyone?’ I sent a text to my family and close friends. They had no clue I was saying goodbye. ‘Your chances of waking up are 1 in 100.’ Before they put me under, I prayed a quick prayer.”
‘Ezra is sick and I can’t get to him!’ We sat in tears while they operated on him in front of us.’: Mom loses baby to Congenital Leukemia, ‘He worked so hard to make sure we got to meet him’
“The doctor explained, ‘Ezra has bleeding on the brain that we can’t stop.’ We were told they believed the kindest thing to do was to turn his life support machine off. She asked me so many questions about what I did during my pregnancy, as if something I had done may have caused it.”
‘My OB came back in with a flu swab. I couldn’t hold our beautiful, new daughter. Tears immediately filled my eyes.’: Mom recalls childbirth as Influenza patient pre-pandemic, ‘Hindsight is 20/20’
“10 minutes after childbirth, I began shaking. My temperature skyrocketed. It was recommended we remove our precious, new baby from my care, and into theirs. I handed her over. We weren’t allowed visitors. My husband could only visit me with protective gear. But hindsight is 20/20.”
‘I went to the hospital in labor. All the doors were locked. When we entered the recovery room, things started to get weird.’: Mom grateful son’s birth timing was ‘untainted by the coronavirus’
“I assumed it was another bi-yearly media drama. I began to get nervous. We escaped with a ‘normal’ birth experience by the skin of our teeth. I held my breath on the way out.”
‘I don’t know why I feel this way, but maybe I am your birth mom.’ Could I handle another heartache?’: Adoptive mom says ‘watching another woman birth your child is a one in a million miracle’
“I said, ‘This isn’t happening. This is a false alarm.’ I had a tough decision to make. Do I go with our soon-to-be daughter, or do I stay with our expectant mom? She reassured me, ‘You are supposed to be with your baby.’ These types of mothers are part of the miracle.”
‘Girl, are you crazy?’ I told the midwife I was having a baby on my own. ‘A child needs a mother AND father in their life.’: Single mom by choice births baby solo, ‘Every time I look at him, I see infinite love looking back’
“’I feel I’m destined to be without a partner. I’ve heard about women deciding to have children on their own, it’s something I may try.’ It broke my heart when I heard about conversations they had behind my back. ‘In order to grow up well rounded, a child needs a mother AND a father in their life.’ I struggled with those words for three years.”
“’I feel I’m destined to be without a partner. I’ve heard about women deciding to have children on their own, it’s something I may try.’ It broke my heart when I heard about conversations they had behind my back. ‘In order to grow up well rounded, a child needs a mother AND a father in their life.’ I struggled with those words for three years.”
‘I told the nurse, ‘Tie my tubes. I’m done, I don’t ever want to do this again!’ I begged my fiancé to find another woman. ‘I just can’t do it, I’m sorry.’: Woman births rainbow baby after still birth, 3 miscarriages
“At 18, I’d miscarried 3 times. Here I was, at risk of losing another baby. My OB said, ‘Your plan was to have a baby and bring a baby home. I know you still want that.’ Each month, I counted his kicks the way kids count raindrops on a car window. I texted my mom, ‘I can’t do this. What if I’m making a mistake?’ It was go time. I closed my eyes as tight as I could, clenched my teeth, and pushed.”
‘A nurse looked me in the eye. ‘It’s not your fault.’ A needle dug into my arm while I fought the oxygen mask over my face.’: Woman comes back to life after dying in child birth, ‘The odds were stacked against me’
“The nurses wheeled me into the cold, brightly lit room. Panic set in as I drifted to sleep. I never got to meet my son on his birthday. Never got to be the first to look into his eyes. I went into full cardiac arrest. After 58 minutes of intense efforts to shock my heart into beating again, I was placed on life support. The day David became a dad was also the day he was faced with losing his wife. I awoke days later surrounded by tubes, wires, beeping machines, and a picture of our baby. ‘Did it not go well?’ I struggled to get the words out.”
