“Every day, I made silly faces, weird sounds, and looked like a crazy mom, all in the hope he’d smile. Everyone told me not to worry, but my intuition was telling me something else.”
‘I was in shock. My sweet little boy was never going to smile.’: Mom births son with Moebius Syndrome
‘Were my jeans too tight? Should I have NEVER used tampons? We were not in control.’: LGBTQ mom shares journey to motherhood, urges ’embrace the suck and keep perspective’
“’We’re pregnant!’ Thank the LORD the lights were off so no one could see my tears. The concept of ‘deserving to be parents’ is a privilege too many take for granted.”
‘A police officer was on the other end of the phone. ‘He didn’t have enough time to stop.’ They told me to take him off the ventilator.’: Woman becomes caretaker to husband after accident
“His body lay lifeless in the small bed. Monitors beeping, tubes coming out of every direction, ventilator helping him breathe. My husband of 7 years was in a critical condition, fighting for his life right before my eyes.”
‘I woke up with a tube down my throat. I couldn’t talk. On a piece of paper, I wrote, ‘I want my mom.’: Chronic illness warrior says ‘faith can do wonders’
“Halfway through my 12-hour shift, I began to feel very sick. ‘You need to sit down.’ I had a fever and my oxygen level was low. The next few weeks were a blur.”
‘3 days postpartum, I looked at my husband. ‘I want to throw our son.’: Mom says ‘even through the fog of depression, I am worthy’
“I had a massive panic attack while feeding him. His latch pierced me with pain. I had nightly terrors one or both of us were left dead on the hospital table. My doctor asked, ‘How are you doing?’ I just cried.”
‘They didn’t know if I’d ever wake up. The first thing I said was, ‘I can’t see. Everything is completely black.’: Woman navigates new normal with sight loss
“After my tonsils were removed, my mom woke me up to check on my throat and give me some water. I was completely unresponsive. They didn’t know if I’d be able to breathe, talk, walk, or think ever again.”
‘My entire life, I witnessed a person with disability have a joyful life. No matter what her life looked like, it’d be a good one.’: Mom births daughter with Down syndrome after advocating for uncle
“For almost 30 years, I watched my mom be an advocate. I heard the words, ‘Your baby will be born with Down syndrome.’ I knew my daughter would be okay.”
‘Growing up, ‘blind’ was a dirty word. Once I accepted it, everything shifted. It turned from a dirty word into a powerful word.’: Blind man embraces label
“I was afraid of being ‘the blind person,’ of being different. I was afraid of being who I truly am.”
‘He won’t live to see his 7th birthday.’ My eyes were completely sunken into my skeleton-like body.’: Heart and kidney transplant warrior urges ’we’re stronger than we realize’
“I fainted after getting home from karate class, a searing pain in my gut. My mom tried to revive me on the chilly tiles of our bathroom floor. Doctors offered me a second-rate heart, believing I wouldn’t survive otherwise.”
‘I looked at the doctor, ‘What’s wrong with her exactly?’ She started listing things.’: Mom gives birth to rainbow baby with birth defects, ‘She’s a miracle’
“We couldn’t believe this was happening to our newborn. The surgeons said, ‘We don’t know what we’ll find until we open her up.’ Through social media, people all around the world were praying for our little girl, praying for a miracle.”
