“When we first moved here, we knew no one. I knew one of the best ways to meet moms is to throw my kids into activities and hope I clicked with another mom. But friend circles were already formed. It feels like a hard ‘no’ when you’re trying to get on the inside.”
Mother of 6 admits new moms are ‘intimidating as heck’ and don’t want to welcome ‘new blood’: ‘Meeting mom friends is worse than dating. There, I said it!’
‘I lost one of my kids. As the crowd dispersed, two of my boys walked over to me, but my son was nowhere to be seen. I called his name, paralyzed in fear.’
“I hadn’t laid eyes on him for at least 10 minutes — or had it been 20? Immediately, everything around me swirled and blurred. The only thing in focus was the red flag flapping violently above the lifeguard station. The white-capped waves were deafening. Horrible scenarios flooded my mind.”
‘Then Rob messaged me. And everything changed. We decided to go out on a date. For the next few weeks, Rob and I were each other’s world. Or so I thought.’
“We stayed at his parents’ house several times, but never his. I began to suspect Rob had a wife or a girlfriend, and that’s why we never went to his place. He always had an excuse, and I always believed him. Then one night, he told me he had something to tell me.”
‘Nothing prepared me for my wife’s cesarean. Nothing. Reaching from a gaping hole in my beautiful wife’s stomach was the head of a bloody, powder white, child-like creature.’
“I recall Mel lying naked in front of a handful of doctors after they finished. Blood dripped from the sides of her hips; her stomach like a deflated balloon. But nothing shocked me as much as the next day.”
‘My wife sees the nurse laying on top of me, yelling ‘CODE BLUE,’ pulling on the emergency string. I remember her grabbing my hand and repeatedly saying, ‘baby, no!’
“Over my numerous deployments, energy drinks were a staple – For everybody. It’s become a substance abuse issue that nobody thinks about until the damage is done. My heart continues to go in and out of AFib.”
‘I was sitting next to a grandmother of 3 children. ‘Honestly,’ she said, ‘kids these days have no idea what real values are, and they’re certainly not going to learn them from their parents.’
“‘What does that mean?’ I asked her curiously.”
‘When I gave birth to my second child, I relapsed. I was running around, so it was easy to miss lunch. But then, I started missing that meal purposely.’
“’Just because I did it in the past doesn’t mean I’d do it again. Plus, I’m breastfeeding.’ That was the scary thing, I was BREASTFEEDING, and my daughter needed the nutrients. Hearing myself say those words out loud freaked me out. I lied.”
‘He looked up at us and then dropped to the ground seizing. This time was different. I thought our nightmare was over, but the universe had other plans.’
“The original doctor who discharged us asked what we were doing back. I wanted to slap him. You’re supposed to shield your child from awful things, not be a participant.”
‘I told mom not to get out of the car. She nodded. When I walked into the parking lot and saw another woman standing at our car, my heart stopped. I knew something was wrong.’
“She was furious I was stopping her from rescuing ‘Sharon.’ As soon as I got her buckled in, we got the hell out of there.”
‘My worst nightmare was happening. I laid on the OR table gasping for air. ‘Help me! I can’t breathe!’ I stared into my mother’s eyes. I could see the fear written all over her face.’
“A huge splash of fluid hit the curtain in my face. All I could think was, ‘I’m going to die right here. I was born on this day, and I’m going to die on this day giving birth.'”
