Author: Nacy

“My husband, Chris, and I met in 2002 when we were teenagers. We dated through high school and college and married during my last year of college on June 21st, 2008. Our wedding was beautiful and our honeymoon at the beach was a great start for our marriage. We spent our time during those first few years of marriage working and getting me through my last year of college. I had been chasing a dream of going to law school for almost as long as I could remember, so when college was over and I was finally able to start…

“Faith Never Fails! Faith over Fear Psalm 91:10 I was 19 when I got pregnant with my son. I gave birth to Royce in 2019, but I wasn’t prepared for what the future had for us. By the time Royce turned 3 months old, he got sick with an upper respiratory infection. He began to get worse, so I took him to the hospital were they gave him a shot and sent us on our way. He continued to get worse, and a after couple days I took him to another ER, where they said he had RSV. They told…

“It’s important to me to start my story off when everything was ‘normal.’ Or our normal, anyway. I had been married to my husband for 3 years (we’ve been together since we were 18, so 10 years total). After we got married, my husband and I were eager to start our family. We successfully got pregnant with our son Noah who was born on October 19th, 2016. He was completely healthy and perfect, 8-pound baby in every way! When Noah was 1.5 years old, we decided it was a good time to try for our second and final baby. We…

“My husband, Alex, and I started dating in 2012 when we were sixteen years old. We got engaged in 2019, bought our first home in 2020, and then found out we were expecting our first baby a couple of months later. At first, I was nervous. It’s almost surreal when you first realize you’re pregnant. I’ve had a pregnancy end in loss, so I had a million worries going through my head. I didn’t want to get my hopes up this time, but after each week went by, I became more and more excited. It was always my dream to…

“When Kyle and I began our adoption journey, Ukraine was the place we swore we would never go to. There were too many unknowns: the time required in-country, the variance in court timelines and procedures by region, the well-known issues with children’s files and paperwork. We wanted our adoptions to be straightforward, to come with a clear plan from beginning to end. As the saying goes, man plans and God laughs. 2012 ended with the stroke of Putin’s pen and a screeching halt to our plan to bring home two more tiny little Russians from Charlotte’s orphanage to complete our…

Disclaimer: This story contains details and graphic images of stillbirth that may be triggering to some. “I always knew I wanted to have a professional birth photographer take pictures of my labor and delivery. I was obsessed with capturing the amazing moments that pass by so quickly as I have seen in my profession as a labor and delivery nurse. At first, my husband was skeptical and nervous about having a stranger in the room, but thankfully he agreed after some discussion. We researched online and asked friends and ended up meeting and hiring a birth photographer who lived pretty…

When 19-year-old Ya’Niyyah Malik found out she was two months pregnant, her ex told her that “nobody would ever want to be with her now.” Just a few months later, she met Jonathon. The two have been together since, raising Ya’Niyyah’s daughter in their Maryland home. Courtesy of Ya’Niyyah Malik Courtesy of Ya’Niyyah Malik “Jonathan has supported me throughout my pregnancy by being there for my every need,” Ya’Niyyah tells Love What Matters. “Being pregnant is not easy, especially with all the mood swings. Jonathan was there by my side through it all. He’s taken me to my appointments, he’s…

“In March of 2017 my Poppy passed away surrounded by his family. Seated at the end of his bed, our eyes locked. I tried to connect my heart with his. My husband Mike and I had struggled with infertility for three years. Staring into my Poppy’s eyes I asked him to pick out a baby for us when he got to heaven. He passed away just moments later. Before his burial I kissed his cheek and again whispered in his ear to send us a baby. This time I added, ‘make it a girl.’ Courtesy of Amanda Waligora Four months…

Disclaimer: This story contains details of child loss which may be upsetting for some. Birth Injury “When Charlotte was born, there was no cheering. There was no crying. Instead, an OR room quickly worked to breathe life into her. She was born dead. If they hadn’t resuscitated her, her birth and death date would be the same. But, I’m thankful that her dash got to include a few more years. While she was in the NICU, I remember the doctor going over the results of her MRI with us, and I remember crying for hours afterward. I remember asking her…

“‘Did anyone tell you that your daughter does not look normal?’ Courtesy of Leandri Wallace These were the first words Gracen’s pediatrician said to us when he saw us. She was in NICU, and I hadn’t even been able to see her. I started feeling my heart throbbing in my throat, and I told myself this couldn’t be real. My absolute biggest fear as a teenager and a young woman was to one day have a child that is not ‘normal.’ I was petrified of the thought, and I was even more afraid of having a child with Autism. Little…

“Imagine hearing the words, ‘Your child has cancer.’ As you’ve just been abruptly woken up at 5 a.m. in a hospital room by your son’s doctors. We only came for a broken leg. How can that be? As the doctors kept speaking, their words sounded blurry. I was hoping I was just having a nightmare but unfortunately, it was reality. My extremely happy, healthy almost 2-year-old baby boy has cancer. Courtesy of Priscilla Jennings Just a couple weeks prior to this day, Zy had started limping and having random unexplained fevers. We took him to his pediatrician and they ordered…

“I am not the same person I was when we left the house today. Andrew’s Initial Diagnoses We are somewhere on the freeway heading north toward home, but even though I’ve been on this road countless times, if you asked me where we are right now, I couldn’t tell you. Everything looks different and the landmarks that usually signal we are nearing our destination seem blurry, unidentifiable, strangely unfamiliar. Our station wagon Volvo suddenly feels small. I feel the panic well up and rise from the pit of my stomach and I think I might scream. I roll down the…

The Spark Of An Idea “Two years ago,  my three-year-old daughter, Mila, looked at me with sadness and asked, ‘Mommy, why doesn’t anyone in my books have cochlear implants, like me?’ My heart sank and I knew I had to do something about the lack of deaf/hard of hearing representation in children’s books. Because if I didn’t, then who would? A very busy and event-filled two years have passed since that moment. It has been a journey of ups and downs, and working almost every evening once my ‘real job’ was complete and 3 kids were asleep to teach myself…

“I was 26 weeks pregnant when I first heard, ‘Your baby girl isn’t growing properly.’ As I sat anxiously waiting in the Maternal Fetal Medicine office, alone and terrified, my mind went everywhere. Up until this ultrasound, everything looked great. Perfect. It was a difficult pregnancy from the start, but through it all our baby seemed healthy. I had many appointments and lots of scans since I was considered to be an older mom with high blood pressure. We were monitored closely. The doctor came out and sat down right beside me. She explained the long bones in Nora’s arms…

“My name is Kelsey, I am a wife and mother to two kids. Olivia who is six years old and Eli who is four. Courtesy of Kelsey Gonzalez When our son Eli was born, our daughter was three, and everything felt so perfect having one girl and one boy. Olivia instantly loved her baby brother so much. Throughout the first nine months of Eli’s life, we would notice things about him that were never too far out of the ordinary, but not completely normal either. Things such as a very enlarged belly all the time, ongoing loud and congested breathing/snoring,…

While the Rockvale Reapers may have lost the baseball tournament game, playing another team from Middle Tennessee for the championship, both teams left feeling like winners after a heartwarming display of kindness and inclusion. Tanner Grimes, an 11-year-old Reapers team member, has a younger brother, 6-year-old Carson, with a spontaneous rare genetic mutation called GRIN1. While unable to physically participate in the sport, Carson was made to feel like the game’s MVP, and has always been treated as an integral part of the Reapers team. Courtesy of Shannon Grimes Shannon Grimes, the boys’ mother, says the coaches deserve so much…

“My heart broke into 100 pieces in the formula aisle in Walmart today. I saw an obviously frantic and distressed Dad almost in a jog going towards the baby area, which is where I was going also. We both ended up looking at the empty formula shelves and he started to cry, tears rolling down his face. I asked which formula he was looking for. He said he drove all the way from the beach after going to all the Walmarts and Targets there and saw that this Walmart in Florence had the formula, but it didn’t. I helped him…

My name is Katie, my husband is Toby, and we have a gorgeous little boy called Max. We’re a loud, “fizzy,” content little neurodiverse family unit living in the UK, and we have a lot of lived experience when it comes to the concept of “same/safe” foods, so we’re really pleased to share some (hopefully) helpful tips with you all. *Please note—we use identity-first language rather than person-first (autistic rather than “has/with autism.” Numerous case studies show a strong preference for identity-first in the autistic community, but if you prefer person-first, that’s fine. I wanted to say this in case…

Disclaimer: This story contains details of pregnancy loss which may be triggering for some. Struggles With Infertility “I am a country girl born and raised in Baltimore, MD. I was diagnosed with PCOS at a young age and with that comes a lot of difficulties. What is a normal period? Wouldn’t know, hardly get them. Ovulation? Not on my own. So having a family I was told would be a huge struggle and chances were I would not be doing it on my own. I met my husband, Robert, and we had an instant connection. Of course, then comes the…

“Talk to anyone who has been on an infertility journey, and they will tell you it is like a roller coaster ride. It is true, in the sense that there are ups and downs, and periods of intense anticipation. But on this type of rollercoaster, there are no guarantees. You are promised nothing, and when you put your heart on the line, it feels like you’re risking everything. A Whirlwind Romance My husband, Eli, and I first met in the summer of 2004. We worked together at an amusement park. He was 17 and I had just turned 19. It…

Disclaimer: This story includes mentions of pregnancy loss that may be triggering for some. “I can remember being preschool-aged and stuffing our blue, round couch pillows under my shirt, and standing in the mirror staring at my profile while stroking my ‘pregnant’ stomach dreaming of the day when I would actually be pregnant. I am the middle of five kids, so the idea that I would one day be diagnosed as infertile never entered my mind. I remember thinking, ‘When I am 19, I will get married, and by 25, I will have my 3 boys and 1 girl.’ Courtesy…

A Wild Birth “We’ve always known that Charlee would create her own path in this world. After a full-term pregnancy filled with intense sciatica and vomiting, Charlee made her appearance on the living room floor, in front of a group of neighbors who helped with the delivery (because she decided she wanted to be out in the world faster than we could even get to the car). By the time the paramedics arrived, I was cradling her in my arms wrapped in towels and blankets waiting for my (very expensive) ‘taxi’ ride to the hospital via ambulance. She was so…

Disclaimer: This story contains details of birth trauma that may be upsetting for some. Beginning My Pregnancy Journey “My journey with pregnancy first began early summer of 2018. That was when I got my first ever positive pregnancy test. My husband and I were trying to get pregnant, but not really trying. We went about it in a way of, we were ready to start a family, but it would happen when it happened. A few days after the positive test, I started to severely cramp and bleed. My husband, Steven, held me while we cried after leaving the ER.…

My Mom’s Addiction “Growing up, life always felt normal but looked a little different from others. With a father that was never in the picture, I was raised by a single mother. As a kid, I did dance, played soccer, and did cheerleading. Life was as good as I knew it to be. I would spend the weekends playing outside and shopping with my mom, doing what moms and daughters love to do together. As an only child, I longed for siblings but also lived life to the fullest. Courtesy of Scarlet Stearns Courtesy of Scarlet Stearns One evening, when…