“My heart was shattered the day I was released from the hospital without my son. I prayed my sweet boy would be in caring hands.”
‘Is your grandmother’s name Joanne?’ Her mouth dropped. I felt like I knew her my whole life.’: Mom discovers unexpected connection to son’s NICU nurse
‘We can’t see any arms.’ I was chasing shadows and clinging to hope there was a mistake.’: Mom gives birth to son with TAR Syndrome, ‘No arms? No problem!’
“Why does EVERYTHING have sleeves? The feeling of being inadequate hit me like a freight train. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t eat. ‘How are we supposed to raise a child with no arms?’”
‘Everything would change between us,’ he said. I didn’t want to wait to be in a relationship.’: Single mom by choice shares high-risk pregnancy journey
“I cried my eyes out. They chalked it up to being more prevalent if you were young, Black, and poor. I prayed she would be born alive.”
‘When it was my turn to play dress-up, they paused. ‘Oh, Liz, there aren’t any princesses left.’ My confidence was shattered.’: Woman with GoldenHar Syndrome advocates for facial equality
“The blonde girl was Cinderella, the brunette was Belle. ‘Liz, you can be the mother.’ There was no princess that resembled what I looked like, no role for me to play.”
‘He had inhaled poop into his lungs. The only thing I could do was rub his forehead.’: NICU mom shares breastfeeding journey
“We raced to keep up with the ambulance carrying our child as he fought for his life. I stayed overnight at the hospital, feeding whenever he showed signs of hunger.”
‘MAN, I am huge. There has to be more than one baby in here!’ Was I in for a surprise.’: Type-1 diabetic gives birth to quadruplets
“We immediately saw three sacs! We were in shock. ‘Let me make sure there aren’t any more in there…’ What do you know, she found one more!”
‘Both of his eyes bounced. I knew there was something wrong.’: Mom says ‘we didn’t know how beautiful raising a blind child would be’
“I cried every time I thought of him not being able to see my face. It was hard not to grieve the baby we once dreamed of.”
‘I was looking at all his cute little fingers and toes when I noticed webbing. My heart sank.’: Mom shares son’s Smith Lemli Opitz Syndrome diagnosis
“It felt like they ripped my baby out of my arms. I was all alone, sobbing, ‘It wasn’t supposed to be like this.’”
‘I waddled into every appointment alone. There was no babymoon, no one fawning over my pregnant belly.’: First-time mom gives birth during pandemic, learns ‘what resilience looks like’
“I couldn’t go shopping for baby clothes or nursery furniture. I went through this alone. Then the silver lining of this crazy pandemic showed itself.”
‘It’s not her, it’s him. She isn’t leaving.’ I sat there, wide-eyed, waiting for them to explain. I thought I was hurting my baby.’: Preemie warrior graduates NICU after emotional 67-day stay
“I told my husband I was heading to the hospital for fluids. ‘Same story, different day?’ The nurse turned the monitors away from me. That’s when everything changed.”
