“In came another doctor, who also scanned his head. Then another doctor and another doctor. ‘His brain is likely to grow out of his skull.’ I tried to hide my bump. I didn’t let myself get attached.”
‘One of your babies is behaving beautifully!’ Wait, ONE? I knew it was too good to be true.’: Woman births miracle twins, ‘They survived against all odds’
‘Are you giving up?’ He replied, ‘You aren’t getting pregnant!’ I surrendered my idea of family.’: Couple pursues adoption after infertility battle, ‘Our hearts completely changed’
“My heart sunk. ‘Wait, but what about me?’ I was ecstatic to help this little one go home, but my life had shifted and I wasn’t ready to go back.”
‘No heartbeat,’ was what I sent. I couldn’t form other sentences, even with my fingers. I was numb.’: Woman shares miscarriage, encourages others not to suffer in silence
“My first phone call ended in, ‘What just happened? ‘It’s hard to swallow I’m not his first wife, and I will not have his first child. I was blind to it, because I didn’t want to read the sad stories.”
‘I’m pregnant with triplets!’ Then my heart sank. I was in shock. ‘The doctor has to look at something.’: Triplet with omphalocele heals in utero, ‘I wake up thankful’
“I said to my husband, ‘There’s more news. I’m pregnant with triplets!’ How could we afford that many diapers? Then the doctor called. ‘We need to do a more in-depth ultrasound.’ I knew something was wrong.”
‘My body failed me. Betrayed me in the worst way. I wanted it to be a mistake.’: Woman’s first pregnancy results in miscarriage, ‘I’m not going to give up on becoming a mom’
“My husband and I needed to be together, but not at home. Not at the home where we were going to raise our first child together. Where we had the room picked out for the nursery. The home that had every ultrasound image plastered on the fridge.”
‘I went to my baby checkup today alone. My doctor and I elbow bumped through weary smiles. As soon as I got into my car, tears started rolling down my face.’: Pregnant woman shares ‘devastating’ reality of expecting mommas during pandemic
“My doctor asked how I was holding up. We tried to keep things light, but there was nothing light about making sure not to share pens, hand sanitizing every 2 minutes, and placing the Doppler on my stomach from a distance. There was a heavy energy in the room. As soon as I got into my car, tears started rolling down my face.”
‘It took him nearly an hour and a half to finish a bottle. Milk would come out from his nose, his ears. EVERYWHERE.’: Boy’s cleft lip and palate ‘gave him a chance to know why he’s special from an early age’
“I was alone when they told me. I do remember carrying my still squirming baby boy up the stairs to his room and collapsing on the ground next to his dresser, unable to move, unable to even cry. A strange thing happened during this time. I grew up. I got tough. To the rest of the world, it was a defect, but to us, it was precious.”
‘Doctors told me it was ‘a blocked milk duct.’ It felt like a lemon seed under my skin, close to my areola, and hadn’t hurt at all.’: Woman with breast cancer stays positive, ‘I’ve got this. Everything will be okay.’
“My diagnosis came when I was a 48-year-old, post-menopausal woman with no biological children. I told myself, ‘I have to get my sh*t together quick!’ Things were progressing well until a few days after we moved into a new home. I was experiencing severe shortness of breath, which I’d mistakenly attributed to chemo side effects. Long story short, 840 gallons of propane leaked into our home. By the time the leak was discovered, my treatment plan had been modified.”
‘What’s wrong with me?’ I burst into tears. My ovaries were that of a 40-year-old. I longed so desperately to make my sweet girl a big sister.’: Mom births baby with epilepsy, autism, then miracle baby after battling endometriosis
“Our thoughts of having a second child were buried under years of trauma. Until one day. ‘Kylee, I want a baby.’ That sparked something inside me I never thought would happen again. 4 days after my transfer, I took a pregnancy test expecting nothing. There was a very faint second line. ‘This has to be a fluke.’ My heart began racing. A different kind of panic ensued.”
‘Calm down a little. Sleep it off.’ My baby had an egg-sized lump on his skull. I was told I was ‘just a stressed out momma.’: Baby diagnosed with Chiari Malformation after mom’s concerns brushed off for months, ‘I’m so glad I trusted my gut’
“Rowen’s skull was swelling. He started grabbing his head constantly and screaming. He was throwing up non-stop and couldn’t even turn his head. I kept hearing time and time again from doctors, ‘You just need some sleep.’ It got to the point where every time they saw me, they asked, ‘Are you getting sleep? You need it badly.’ I started to doubt myself. Was I going crazy? But deep down, I knew something wasn’t right. I decided to go with my gut. Enough was ENOUGH.”
