“This is the world I brought this miracle into. This should not be his first core memories. This should not be my 2-year-old’s life. He should be waving at strangers in the aisle, hugging other children in the toy section. And yet, this photo makes me extremely proud. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
‘As I snapped this photo I said, ‘Smile so Daddy can see what a big boy you’re being!’ My heart broke. It’s not supposed to be like this.’: Mom says ‘we may be missing our normal, but we are teaching empathy’
‘You’re purposely starving your unborn child by not eating.’ My husband wasn’t allowed in the room for ultrasounds.’: Mom births baby with Down syndrome after hospital malpractice, ‘He is more loved because, not despite, his diagnosis’
“The pediatrician was super blunt. ‘No, you are mistaken. You’ve confused us with a different baby.’ Nobody noticed it on the million ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy. I watched my husband and 1-day-old baby taken away from me in an ambulance and all I could do was stare.”
‘The nurse came in and said, ‘Her new parents are ready for her.’ Only 15, I kissed her soft baby cheek, and placed her into the arms of her mama.’: Teen mom embarks on ‘beautiful’ open adoption journey, ‘I couldn’t have picked better parents’
“I hid my pregnancy for 7 months. I should’ve been picking the perfect dress for Winter Ball. Instead, I was writing a birth plan. Once my sobs slowed, I looked at her birth father and said, ‘Those are the people who will raise our baby girl.’ I wavered. I fought. I broke. But in the end, I knew what I needed to do.”
‘Can you tell me how we’re related?’ Then she said, ‘I am your mom.’ My heart was beating so fast it almost popped out of my chest.’: Woman reunites with biological mom, ‘I’m excited to build a relationship with this sweet, intelligent woman’
“We embraced each other. ‘I look like you,’ I said with watery eyes. In 1996, pregnant in her early 20s with already two kids, she wrapped me in a towel and called the police to tell them where I was. ‘I forgive you.’ I tried my hardest to keep my tears in. I knew if I let one fall, the rest would not stop.”
‘No, you can’t play with us.’ I never would’ve dreamed my 6-year-old daughter would already shed this many tears. She just wants to fit in.’: Mom teaches daughter ‘self-worth’ in wake of bullying
“Just like my mother taught me, I told her to kill them with kindness. But after a particular pair of older girls, who frankly know better, continued to be rude and exclude my daughter, I had to have a difficult talk with her.”
‘Little boys don’t need to ‘toughen up’ or stop crying. It’s OK if they’re not OK.’: Boy mom urges ‘vulnerability is a gift’
“They need to be comforted, nurtured, and told their feelings are valid.”
‘CPS swooped in and out. I am now mother to both victims. We are going to fight for them.’: Family adopts 2 children, ‘We’re standing up for our kids’
“We had been so careful. We had all the right rules in place. But he’d been taught too well. Steve, a child trapped in a man’s body, was just as much a victim.”
‘Your to-do list will keep growing. The emails will continue to flood in. The texts will sit unanswered.’: Mom urges ‘everything else can wait, you only get one chance to raise your kids’
“But your children, they grow right before your eyes. Their tiny voices change overnight. Their giggles and tears start and end with you…until they don’t. Everything else can wait. Parenting is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
‘Breast is better,’ they said. I cried for days, unable to feed you. I heard I could never feel that connection with you, nor you with me, because I didn’t nurse you.’: Mom shares emotional breastfeeding struggle, ‘Did I love you any less?’
“I don’t know about letdown or leaking when a baby cries. I don’t know about raw or chapped nipples. I don’t have battle scars or badges of honor that are inscribed with, ‘Breastfed my baby until 2.’ None of it. But tell me, my sweet baby, did I love you any less?”
‘Dear husband—I love you, but I don’t like you. Not all the time.’: Woman pens appreciation letter to husband, ‘I love you even in those I-don’t-like-you moments’
“I just hope you know how grateful I am for you even when I’m tired, worn down, and I don’t show it. Most of all, I hope you know I love you big even in those I-don’t-like-you moments.”
