“After the news, I withdrew. I felt trapped, suffocated by own body, my own thoughts. These were NOT the feelings I imagined having as a mother.”
‘Your baby has a significant limb discrepancy.’ I wanted to hide my pregnancy. I didn’t talk about the baby.’: Mom shares journey with ‘suffocating’ postpartum depression
‘I don’t feel like myself.’ I attempted to be the perfect mom. I couldn’t let myself cage.’: Mom bravely shares journey with anxiety and panic disorder, ‘I don’t have to hide anymore’
“My stomach sank in fear. ‘What if something is really wrong?’ The room was spinning. My house became my safe space. What if I never felt like my true self again? I couldn’t stay home forever.”
‘The first 8 years of being a parent were rough. ‘It’s the after-baby blues. They’ll go away.’ I felt like a failure.’: Mom shares journey with postpartum depression, ‘The NOW is where I’m content’
“I hated watching my husband sleep when I was exhausted. I felt such emptiness. I was told, ’It’ll get better when you get out of the house more.’ I always responded, ‘Yeah, you’re probably right. But I knew it wasn’t the case. I was depressed again.”
‘Your baby has a funny eye.’ I looked down and saw it. The folded ear and almond-shaped eyes. The world froze.’: Woman advocates for special needs moms, ‘Our path is unique’
“Our daily lives have an element of ‘extra.’ Extra appointments, extra judgment, extra advocating, extra support. It also comes with extra love.”
‘He flailed around like a salted earthworm. ‘SIT DOWN. GO TO TIME OUT.’ I felt nothing but resentment. He widened his eyes and said, ‘Mommy, I’m scared.’: Mom shares moment of lost temper, ‘I’m terrified of screwing things up’
“His sweet little cherub curls and fat tears streaming down his face, and all I could think was WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME??? My son was scared. Of me.”
‘Nothing terrifies me more than returning to the workplace. A workplace full of judgement and critique, stress and guilt. I am a MOTHER first, and an EMPLOYEE second.’: Mom shares fear of going back to work
“A workplace where, likely, but hopefully not, work and clients will have to come first, and family, well, if you have and are ‘into’ those, must come second.”
‘He probably needed a break. I took her from him and sent him to go get some time and space alone. I took over the parenting responsibilities.’: Mom of seven details ‘parental regret,’ urges ‘be honest about it’
“I snapped a pic, walked over, and took her from him. This photo sums up why I don’t regret becoming a parent.”
‘This one won’t last.’ I was scared to get pregnant again. Anxiety can fool you, make you believe a lie.’: Mom opens up about anxiety after loss, ‘There’s no rulebook’
“We felt robbed. ‘I must have done something wrong.’ I shouldn’t have had that cup of coffee. I was angry at my body. The past comes to haunt your present.”
‘I’ve had my accounts hacked. I’ve had my words twisted and changed to reflect me as a horrible person. I feel stronger.’: Woman who was hacked says ‘never give up’
“A boyfriend of years left me for another girl. I grabbed my phone and I wrote while my baby gnawed on my nipples.”
