When people started to find out I was pregnant, I was astonished at the response. I had convinced myself that people would judge me. However, I got the exact opposite response. People went above and beyond to make me and my unborn baby feel loved and supported. My sister put out a message on Facebook …
It was the appointment every pregnant woman looks forward to – the 20 week anatomy scan. This is the big ultrasound appointment where you can find out the gender of your baby and you get a whole bunch of adorable pictures of the baby as the doctor takes measurements. I remember being so excited to …
I came home to California because I was a mess. I needed help mentally and emotionally. I was so beaten down, my own family didn’t recognize me. My Dad described it as though I had been completely taken over by another person. I knew I needed help. I reached out to a friend to see …
Once I decided it was time for me to go back to California, I had 1 week to get everything done. To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. I had to transition projects for work, pack up my stuff, and figure out what I needed to bring for a newborn. My plan was to …
Relent (verb): to cease resistance. Things with Keller kept getting consistently worse and worse. I kept thinking I could make him realize his behavior wasn’t rational. I thought I could convince him that us being together was not going to work. I thought I could fix him. I thought if I loved him enough I …
Aside from telling my family and a few friends, I kept my pregnancy a secret for the first few months. I didn’t trust myself not to burst into tears when I talked about what was going on. I wasn’t ready for people’s reactions – excitement or pity – for my situation. I didn’t know how …
I always imagined what my life would be like. I would marry the man of my dreams and have 4 kids by the time I was 30. Instead, I found myself in a toxic relationship with an unplanned pregnancy at 30. Life wasn’t turning out how I imagined. Was that it? Was my life over …
I blocked Keller on all forms of social media and I blocked his phone number the night I told him I was keeping the baby. Actually, Grace blocked him. She came into the room, heard him screaming at me, took the phone out of my hand, hung up, and blocked him. I couldn’t do it. …
If I had recognized the early warning signs as red flags in my relationship with Keller, maybe it would have made a difference. It wasn’t until after I told Keller I was keeping the baby that the real abuse started, but there were so many warning signs that our relationship was toxic way before that. …
I was in agony for two days after I found out I was pregnant. The idea of telling my parents I was pregnant literally made me sick. I was devastated that I had let them down. I was convinced they would never forgive me. I was worried my family wouldn’t recognize the baby as part …