“Seeing my sweet baby girl laying in a huge bed, much too big for her, made me fall to my knees. A nurse said to me, ‘Get off the floor, it’s so dirty.’ I was angry at her, I was angry at the hospital chaplain placing his eerie hand on my shoulder with no real comfort. No parent should have to write their child’s eulogy, or decide between a casket or an urn. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.”
‘Mom she’s gone, I just know.’ I sat on my stairs with my front door open, in shock.’: How this ‘broken’ mother helps other parents of child loss heal after her own tragedy
‘I can do this, right?’ I scanned the faces around me, absolutely mortified. ‘Of course. Just take your shirt off!’ Peopled waved, said hello. Where were the looks of disgust?!’ Mom embraces plus-size beach body to set example for daughter
“I spent years trying to sabotage my marriage in hopes he’d leave me for someone skinny. Day after day, I’d tell myself how nasty, disgusting, fat I was. I had no idea my gorgeous daughter was listening. She started saying how fat she was. How ugly. I was HORRIFIED. I knew I needed to make a change.”
‘I walked out of the auditorium and went straight to the bathroom, where I lost my baby.’ Woman has miscarriage as she walks across graduation stage, gets surprise from brother in heaven 1 year later
“The doctors couldn’t pinpoint exactly when my miscarriage would happen, so we decided I would still walk the stage. As I sat in my seat while the president talked to the crowd, everything started happening.”
‘The kid never leaves home without his purse. He spends his money on makeup, and loves all things pink and sparkly.’ Mom supports her 10-year-old non-binary son and ‘all his fabulousness’
“By the time my son reached Pre-K, there was no denying he was truly one fabulous little guy. People have asked me for years if Sam is gay or transgender. My response? ‘Sam is a child, and if I have anything to do with it, he’ll be a happy one.’”
‘We were forced into an abortion. ‘Don’t hold her too close. Your warmth and heartbeat will confuse her into staying alive.’ We were left alone with our baby as the staff waited for her die.’
“I was given 2 tablets. At 3:43 p.m., I delivered a baby girl. The image seared in my mind is of her little arm stretching into the air. She was alive. ALIVE. Surely, the nurse wasn’t going to let her die, right? But as our girl fought to stay alive, nobody on staff seemed to care.”
‘Jeremy had no intention of having more children or getting married again. We tied the knot, and started the process of reversing his vasectomy. My first thought was, ‘Here we go.’
“I told Jeremy, ‘I just don’t feel right.’ He took me to the ER. I had a bad feeling. ‘I’m sorry, but you are normal, so we really have no answers.’ I remember asking him, ’Do you even care?'”
‘You’re so lucky, you won’t have to get fat.’ She walked away laughing. Anger ran through my body.’ Woman’s harrowing journey with infertility, 3 failed adoptions
“She had recently given birth and stood there holding her adorable, tiny, perfect baby as the words came out of her mouth. I remember the pain and shock as she said those words to me. I cried into my pillow, ‘I’m not lucky, I am cursed.‘ But it wasn’t the end of our story.”
‘I had a stroke at 28 years old. Everyone assumed I was dehydrated or passed out. Soon enough, I was signing for my husband to take me off life support. Then reality hit.’
“We had a beautifully healed daughter. Our marriage was stronger than ever. That’s when everything changed, again. Words cannot describe how scared we were. We were again trying to hide our struggles behind fake smiles. That’s when they heard it.”
‘You’ve caught an infection. If we don’t remove these babies, you will become sepsis. You can die.’ Tears ran down my face. ‘This is not where I hoped to see you,’ my doctor said. Neither did I.’
“‘You are having twins!’ I looked at my husband. We were in total shock. When we went to the doctor experiencing bleeding, we were sure something else was the issue — not twins. It was a dream come true. Minutes later, I sat on the toilet. I heard a ‘pop.’ I felt this flow of water between my legs.”
‘I stood in line, filling the medication that would remove the life within me. I looked at my fiancé. ‘I’m going home and grabbing my camera.’ If I didn’t do this, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.’
“I headed to the hospital. I remember being in the room, feeling blood dripping from my body. I watched my friend’s body bleed simultaneously, signs of life, as she waited to bring her baby into the world. A life leaving and a life beginning all in the same room at the same moment. I was transfixed.”
