“I took him to his pediatrician with no knowledge of what was to happen later that evening. The doctor walked in, looked at his stomach bulging out on the left side, and told me to go straight to the Children’s Hospital.”
‘He looked at me screaming, helpless because he felt they were torturing him. All mommy could do was hold him tight, but not stop them. The room caved in on me. I wasn’t ready.’
‘That baby in the photo, the one you can’t see. The one who’s all snuggled up inside her mama. She did not survive.’
“I had been in the hospital for a week being monitored. I was in the safest place that I could be and under constant supervision. And then, it happened.”
‘What’s wrong? Is something wrong?’ He didn’t answer. ‘Chad, seriously, tell me what’s wrong.’ He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and leaned in.’: Widow shares the ‘best birthing story of them all’
“He shot back with a look on his face I had never seen before. Fear, maybe. Shock. Panic. Oh God, what was it? The blood left his face. He was pale. Almost confused.”
‘I couldn’t catch my breath. I tried to call my husband, but I was shaking so much I couldn’t even hit the call button on my phone.’
“Things escalated so fast. But, truthfully, I didn’t have a choice.”
‘Before kids you sleep in. After kids you’re whacked in the face at 5 a.m. because you’re someone’s little breakfast making machine because sleep is overrated.’
“Before kids, you make out in your big bed, have a little nasty time and fall asleep lovingly in each other’s arms. After kids, you promise you’ll meet up later and lock the bathroom door for some adult time, but instead you both fall asleep snoring.”
‘The doctor starts clicking away on the ultrasound machine, trying to get a better look. ‘Well, you are pregnant.’ He said it looked ‘good.’ Then, he went silent.’
“I woke up at 1 a.m. on our wedding anniversary, and felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. This wasn’t unusual. I had been pregnant for over a month. But something didn’t feel right.”
‘I asked a friend to hold my drink while I went to the restroom and she set the drink down. We always stuck together but my friend went home with a guy, breaking our agreed upon friend code.’
“Finally, after a long ten year battle, and a few amazing people, I urged the police department to re-open my case.”
‘I easily doubled the speed limit. ‘We’re gonna make it buddy. You’re gonna be okay. Mommy loves you.’ I talked to him the whole way.’: Mom recounts son’s horrible experience with RSV
“I thought, ‘Hey, these ladies are kind of doctors, they’ll know what to do.’ I asked their advice. ‘Does he seem sick? Should I bring him in?’ The doctor had JUST examined him. The women wholeheartedly agreed it was probably just a cold and he’d be just fine. Oh naive me. I would slap the stupid out of me if I could go back.”
‘We all started to notice I was sleeping, a lot. I didn’t feel ‘normal.’ I started college, started dating, and felt like things were starting to fall into place. Oh boy was I wrong.’
“I answer the age-old question of ‘When are you going to have babies?’ with a smile on my face and a reply of, ‘Oh no babies, I have dogs.’ I see the answer disappoints them, but the truth is so much more depressing.”
‘The first thing in his search was, ‘How to track girlfriend’s phone.’ Blood drained from my face.’: After becoming a ‘shell’ of her former self in abusive relationship, woman finds true love, realizes ‘I am enough’
“I saw bruises on my 2-year-old’s face. I figured, ok he’s clumsy, maybe he fell down or something. Then I found a bruise on his neck that looked like a handprint. I pushed the feeling aside, and thanked her for watching my boys. I ran my little guy a bath and started taking his clothes off. Immediately I knew something more sinister had happened. My baby had bruises from his upper back all the way down to his ankles.”