“I fed my toddler crackers and watched TV because I couldn’t function. I could NOT parent. The ‘’mommy juice’ culture became a slippery slope.”
‘You’re under arrest.’ My HUSBAND called the police on me. I woke up in the back of a cop car.’: Woman gets sober, delivers rainbow baby, ‘I can’t live my best life while drinking’
‘I’ll just be a fat mom.’ Over 14 years, I had 5 more babies. Now what? I knew I wasn’t finished.’: Mom of 8 transforms body, ‘Be PROUD of what your body can do’
“I felt so proud but looking back, it was just sad. Unfortunately, it was the norm for girls my age.”
‘Why do they love her when I’m here?’ For 6 years, I wanted to hate her. But I loved them.’: Adoptive mom shares relationship with kids’ birth mom, ‘Love can accomplish great things’
“I knew she’d self-medicated for years. My first message to her was anonymous. ‘My name is Jane, and we love the same kiddos.’ She was defensive, expecting a trap.”
‘I don’t deserve it.’ That hate you have towards yourself? The harm you directly cause yourself? That’s on you.’: Woman talks ‘world of difference’ gratitude has made
“People will NOT feel sorry for you if you CHOOSE to beat yourself up.”
‘There is no end to partpartum. No matter how long it’s been, we’ve changed in a way that can’t be undone.’: Mom urges ‘she still deserves respect and so much grace’
“My youngest is 15 months old, and I wear compression socks. My 7-year-old calls my tummy ‘squishy,’ and I can’t hide the stretch marks. I struggle with hormonal swings and anxiety that made me message two doctors and a nurse friend today. No calendar date or finish line can return anything to how it was before.”
‘She walks slowly toward labor and delivery, cradling her tight, swollen belly. Life as she knows it will never be the same.’: Woman urges to new moms ‘you are completely enough’
“Mama, can’t you see your transformation? I wish those corridors could applaud you. Then you would see the strength you possess. I wish those halls could rock you. To ensure you felt safe and supported. I wish those walls could whisper. So you would know that however your birth played out, you were amazing.”
‘I was the superficial party girl. I lost my fabulous cleavage and all my beautiful hair, the two things I felt made me beautiful.’: Woman finds self-love after battle with breast cancer, ‘It gave me the kick I needed to transform’
“I wasted most of life achieving nothing. There was no dancing on the bar with cleavage showing and crazy, curly hair. I had to find another way to make myself happy, I had nowhere else to look but within myself.”
‘Goodbye Jaci,’ I scream at the fragments of glass. ‘I can’t continue on this path. I must cut myself free of all of you, if I want to fly.’: Woman describes her rebirth, ‘I have found myself.’
“In a panic now, I pray. I put my hands up to my bloody mouth and pray long and hard and more fervently than I have ever prayed before. I can’t go back. I won’t. ‘Please help me.’ I will not look behind me anymore. There is no going back. I must break free from the cage I have held my self in for so long.”
‘I keep telling them to give up on you. I don’t know why they won’t listen.’ The officer grabbed my black and blue arms. I was a walking zombie.’: Former addict transforms her life, ‘I was never hopeless. I was never unworthy.’
“The electricity had been turned off. I was enrolled in Cosmetology school, but hadn’t gone in weeks. I was so tired. My grandparents were on vacation, so I thought I’d go to their house and shower. My intentions were good. I sat in their shower for what felt like an eternity. I remember each individual drop of water hitting my body as I cried out to die. I was fighting the demons, doomed to lose. I lost that day. I didn’t go to school. Instead, I stole $7,000 worth of jewelry from my grandmother.”
‘Look, she’s eating something!’ I hear the whisper. I feel the cold gnawing at the bottom of my stomach. I hate it and I love it.’: After 12 years battling anorexia, ED survivor learns to accept new plus-size body
“My brother makes me a sandwich when he sees I didn’t eat lunch. My bones poke up under my skin. ‘Please eat it,’ he begs. ‘You need to eat.’ It is so sweet of him, so I eat a few bites. But when he leaves, I give the rest to the dogs. They leave no evidence. Nothing in the trash for my dad to find when he empties it, nothing to clog the toilet. I have become clever in the ways of secret self-destruction.”
