“My phone began to ring. My eyes rolled. I was still very bitter. ‘Hi Mrs. Amanda.’ Wait what? Is this for real? I looked down at my belly – I had two babies in my tummy who needed me, and now this? Really?”
‘Yes of course, bring our boy home,’ I blurted out quickly. I started to panic. ‘Now is there one baby or two babies?’ He moved the probe and we saw it. ‘You’re pregnant, with twins.’
‘Stop pushing!,’ my doctor said. ‘No time to wait. His heart rate keeps dropping with every push, I cannot let this keep happening.’
“The epidural I was given hours ago never worked, I was feeling every intense pain throughout my labor. I clung to his words.”
‘She was known as ‘Baby A.’ My husband and I hadn’t even discussed names when our triplets arrived more than 17 weeks premature.’
“None of our children were expected to survive. And as hard as it is to admit, I was worried about wasting a name. If none of my children survived, wouldn’t I need those names in the future?”
‘In the coldest bedside manner, he said, ‘It is extremely rare and there is no cure. IF she lives, she will stop mentally developing at 2 months old.’ I just stared at him, my body slowly over heating.’
“I could feel the nausea setting in. I could feel the walls closing in on me. I could feel Bobby fuming. I told him get me out of there. I was BORN to be her mom. She is here to prove everyone wrong.”
‘The doctor intensively listened to her heartbeat – troubled by what he heard. We realized the severity of the situation. Immediately dropping to my knees in despair, we moved into the hospital.’
“I immediately started CPR and called 911 while my husband tried to keep the boys out of the room. Things escalated quickly. Before I knew it, our road was blocked by police, firefighters, and an ambulance. All these people lent us their hands in attempt to save our daughter.”
‘I heard 3 things when he was finally out: ‘He’s here, he’s breathing, and he has a TON of hair!’ What a joyful moment. I say moment – because the joy only lasted that long.’
“My anxiety was high the morning of our 30-week scan, the morning our world was turned upside down. There was a lot of small talk, and then there was silence. I looked at my fiancé with tears in my eyes. ‘I knew it.’”
‘Michael got news something had gone wrong. I was being put under anesthesia immediately. He wasn’t thinking he would have to worry about me too.’
“I was in disbelief. I thought he would be taken away from me like the girls were. I didn’t want to get attached. Even with a giant belly at 38 weeks, seeing him move wasn’t enough for me to believe. I wanted to protect myself and prepare for the worst.”
‘When my son was 10 months old, I fell in love with a guy who I thought was the one. The one I was positive I was going to marry. Everything was so great – or so it seemed.’
“Motherhood for me wasn’t the typical falling in love and making a baby. In my case, I was a 20-year-old living in a new city, who got drugged, sexually assaulted and pregnant. ‘Why did you keep the baby?’ Well, let me tell you… This baby was a MIRACLE.”
‘I was afraid to be alone with him. My phone records were being watched meticulously. I wasn’t allowed to work past a certain time. I felt like I brought this on because I couldn’t give him a child.’
“The final straw came on my birthday. My best friend told me my husband had tried to sleep with her while he was drunk. I was in a daze for months.”
‘I hadn’t realized this Christmas was the last one we’d spend as a whole family. After dinner, my phone rang. Concerned, I answered, and my world was rocked once more.’
“I was crocheting, like how we spent most nights. It was my mom, who never called me this time of evening as she worked night shift and would normally still be sleeping.”
