“‘Adopt him. You’re supposed to be his mom. You’re the one. Tell your dad. Tell him now.’ My dad visited me in dream. I was standing in a white room. He walked towards me holding a baby wrapped in a light blue blanket. He handed him over, smiled and kissed the baby’s head. When I woke up, I knew.”
‘Hey Dad, I want to raise your son. I want him as my own,’ I insanely told my dying father. ‘I didn’t want to put that burden on you,’ he said. He died just 18 hours later.’
‘You’re definitely pregnant, and farther along than me!’ I was 17. I was only a teenager, how was I going to be a mom?! When I came home, my mom had my bags packed.’
“The baby was coming NOW. My daughter started crowning in the hallway! I was having health issues no one could pin down. Doctors said I ‘wasn’t sick’ and the pain was all in my head. Pediatricians assumed I was a horrible mother with no clue.”
‘This is it.’ I took a deep breath, answered the phone, my heart racing. ‘She is heading to the hospital in labor now.’ We couldn’t believe it, OUR SON. That is what SHE called him.’
“‘You’re lucky you CAN’T have kids,’ a stressed out mother once told me. I was floored. I held my son for hours crying tears of joy. I remember telling my husband, ‘It’s all over. I feel like I can breathe again. This weight I carried for years has been lifted.’”
‘They ran towards him. ‘Daddy, are you gonna die?’ Deployment was 10 months. We planned a surprise. I never mentioned it. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.’
“He told me he was scheduled to return home five months early. I was excited but if you know the military things are always changing. We told our boys we were going to the airport to pick up my sister. He planned it all out.”
‘I was pregnant. I was only 21. I started bleeding. ‘Maybe it’s for the best,’ one family member said. This was supposed to be the happiest time of my life. Instead, it was a nightmare.’
“Josh came home. He suggested we go for a walk, but when I told him to just take our daughter. He couldn’t understand why – and that’s when I lost it. I was screaming at everyone, ‘WHY AM I HERE? I DON’T UNDERSTAND. WHAT IS THE POINT.’”
‘I took maternity photos in the dress I wore to my husband’s funeral.’
“I didn’t know I was pregnant on the day of the funeral. Clothes were strewn about in a panic as I rummaged through every drawer, hamper and closet 2 hours before I was supposed to meet the photographer. Then I saw it. Hanging quietly in the corner where it had remained for the last 7 months.”
‘My doctor told my 12-year-old self I’d still have children, but since I was so young, she never went into details. ‘Your doctors never cleaned out your abdomen in surgery,’ I learned. I was betrayed.’
“The receptionist sounded confused. ‘You already have an appointment scheduled for today. It’s your post-operation check. How did the surgery go?’ Chills went down my spine. I asked her to keep the appointment, but change it to ‘pregnancy confirmation.’ I can’t believe this.”
‘I think I’m pregnant!’ He asked, ‘Why on earth would you think that?’ I laughed. ‘I have a positive test in my hand.’ ‘How accurate are they?’ ‘I have no clue! I have never gotten a positive before.’
“The boys came to the hospital to meet him. ‘Mom, he’s our baby, he’s all of our baby!’ Something about his birth melded us all together even more. We say he is the caboose, but that’s still up in the air. I don’t know how I will survive the 3 of them, but I would also have or adopt 20 more.”
‘I got my bags in the car. ‘Don’t worry, I’m NOT going to come home wanting to adopt.’ My husband shook his head. I was so nervous, I was going to puke. I wasn’t sure WHY I was going.’
“It was a normal Tuesday. I looked down to see them calling. ‘They will have his visa ready on THURSDAY!’ I replied, ‘Like in 2 days, THURSDAY?’ Tears started streaming down my face. ‘WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?’ I couldn’t speak. All I heard was, ‘Book your flight. Go get your son.’”
‘An hour before our flight, I got a text. ‘WATER BROKE BRING CAR SEAT!!!’ We couldn’t believe it! We were off to meet our baby boy. ‘I have news. Call me back,’ she said on the voicemail.’
“We waited in the parking lot, for hours. She ended up getting sick. It was a very contagious infection that ended up spreading to the baby. My husband cried. He couldn’t believe people were so kind.”