Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Whitehouse Chicken
The first time I met my boyfriends family will be a day I’ll never forget. I remember what I was wearing, what my hair looked like, what I ate for dinner, and how anxious I felt. This was not a normal “meet the boyfriends family” event. My boyfriend lived in another country, The Bahamas, and I was just a normal girl from Canada. I took 3 planes to get here, and this was the man I intended to marry, so I was really hoping to fall in love with his family as much as I had fallen in love with him.
By anonymous rebecca 5 years ago in Families
Ayden’s story
I was with a guy for a couple of months, and eventually I learned that I was pregnant. I started seeing my doctor and she told me that I would have many complications due to a cyst the size of a softball on my uterus. I was told by multiple doctors that I would have a miscarriage due to the cyst, but I kept seeing my OBGYN twice a week. When I went in to do my four month check up, we learned that I was 6 cm dilated, I was put on bed rest for 3 more months to make sure everything would be okay. I did as told and stuck to bed rest, I had to take my maternity leave from work sooner than I thought I would be doing. Everything was going good while on bed rest and started to do better, but my OBGYN said that I would probably end up doing a C-Section if I dilated anymore, it worried me. When I did my 6 month check up, I had felt contractions starting, after about an hour they were two minutes apart, I was taken to a different hospital in an ambulance with a labor nurse with me, I didnt have any clue what was going to be happening. While in the back of the ambulance, we learned that I started having more contractions about a minute apart and we were still twenty minutes out from the hospital that I was getting transferred too. By the time we arrived at the hospital, I was dilated to 8 cm and contractions were 10-15 seconds apart from each other, the paramedics brought me up to the fourth floor to labor and delivery, told the doctors everything. We than started preparing for me to deliever, I still had no clue what was going on until they said I would be having my son at any minute, I was so worried because they said I would be needing a c-section. I had finally gotten all my belongings up to my room and I started calling my family that needed to be there, and letting them know what was happening, my family than called the hospital and everything was confirmed. Hours passed and my contractions had slowed down to almost nothing besides every two through three hours, so the doctors wanted to keep me there for a week to run tests, and to watch my contractions. After doing a couple blood tests, a doctor came up to inform me that I have Cystic Fibrosis, and my son has Hereditary Spherocytosis, and he would be born with jaundice. My family and I than started calling family members to see who I would of gotten it from, we had no clue that I had that until right before my son was born. They said my son has a 50% chance of being born with it. A week has passed and I was able to go home, I had regular check ups every morning to make sure everything was fine, which it was. I was put on bed rest until delivery, due to all the complications, and medications didn’t help control the contractions but they slowed them down to nothing after two months of taking them. By the time I was two weeks away from his due date, I went to the hospital because I was just getting super sick, so I went in to the hospital, they told me everything was fine and it was probably sometching that didn’t settle with my stomach, they were than releasing me. I had gone to use the bathroom before leaving and I felt pressure and I can feel pushing but the doctor said I wasn’t dilating at all and sent me home. I was maybe home 30 minutes when I went to go pee and I saw my sons shoulders and above out and I screamed for my grandma. My grandma got downstairs, called for an ambulance, and she had to start making sure we had all the hospital needs ready to go and she would follow down in her vehicle. By the time, I had arrived at the hospital, my son was already knees above out and there wasn’t any way I was going to be able to stop him from coming, and when arriving in the labor room, I was already holding him. The nurses all started rushing in, and they couldn’t get ahold of my OBGYN doctor who was suppose to be there helping so we had called in another doctor to come help. They didn’t let any family come in and they cut his umbilical cord and took him into a different room than me, they didn’t bring him back into the same room where I came in with him until two hours after. My family was all outside waiting to know updates or what was happening, but I wasn’t able to tell them anything because I didn’t know what was happening either. My son had jaundice really bad to where he wasn’t wanting to eat and he was coughing non stop, well his jaundice levels were at 18.7 and if they go above 19, he was be brain dead. They soon after bringing him back into my room told me that they had to transfer us to a different hospital for the rest of our stay, which ended up being six months after he was born. My son is now almost two years old, we go in for regular check ups three times a week, and if he gets sick at all we will be back in the hospital until he’s better. We are never out of out house unless it’s to his appointment’s, or I run to the grocery store to get our needs. He has been doing good and hasn’t been sick in about five months, and we’re hoping to keep it that way.
By Breeanna Winn5 years ago in Families
Why Swimming Lessons Are Important at a Young Age
If you are a parent of young children, you may wonder when it is a good time to teach your children to swim and whether it is necessary at all. Generally speaking, anyone who does not already know how to swim can benefit from learning. Every child is different and not everyone is ready for swimming lessons at the same age. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children start swimming lessons around age 4. Here are some reasons why.
By Paisley Hansen5 years ago in Families
The Wake Up Call
I didn't understand why it was happening to me. Social Services left a card on my door, and I couldn't understand why. Was it because my kids have heavy feet and the neighbors below were tired of hearing them walking until 7:30 every night? Did I correct my kids in public and someone got my information from my license plate? Was it because sometimes during the day, when I'm home, I step on to my balcony to smoke a cigarette? I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. All I knew was, someone didn't like how I was parenting.
By Ryan Cunningham5 years ago in Families
The Meeting
It was a cool autumn day in October. The leaves had begun changing and falling as Halloween neared. Angela Burrows had worked the night shift at the diner down the street from her home and was ready to sleep the rest of the day away. Most people saw it as a waste of a perfect day, but not Angela. She hadn't enjoyed the warm kiss of the sunshine or the sounds of a busy afternoon freeway in a few years. To her, the best time to be awake was late in the evening when the sun had set and everyone was comfortably sleeping in their homes. Time always seemed to move more slowly when the sun was down and it gave her time alone with her thoughts.
By Chasity Wilson5 years ago in Families
My Life Changing Decision
Growing up I didn't have the so called “normal” childhood like every other thirteen year old kid. I had two of everything. Two houses, two rooms, two birthdays, two Christmases, and so on. You would think that I was so lucky to have two of everything, but in reality it was hard. Growing up with divorced parents made me a strong, brave person, yet forced me to make difficult decisions. In the summer of 2011, I made the most difficult decision I ever had to make, to create a better life for myself in the future.
By Brittany Kelley 5 years ago in Families
How You Can Teach Your Children to Eat Healthily and Build a Healthy Relationship With Food
For parents, it can feel like a constant battle with kiddos to get them to eat the right foods. Balancing their nutrition with the foods that they like, all while trying to give them autonomy, can feel like a consistent struggle without a clear answer. If you want to try to boost their independence while ensuring that they have a healthy diet, here are a few tips to help.
By Kari Oakley5 years ago in Families
Her Irish Soda Bread Lives On
It starts with flour and baking soda...no, scratch that. It started with a steamer trip across the Atlantic on the RMS Queen Elizabeth. Born in Paisley, Scotland, of Irish decent, she traveled alone at the invitation of relations abroad to make her new home in America.
By Judy Loughman5 years ago in Families
For the Love of Mac and Cheese
We all have that one meal that brings back memories or that we only like when cooked by a specific person. The meal that you were obsessed with as a kid and if your parents let you it is the meal you would have picked to eat every day. The meal you would either never get sick of or will eat until you became sick of it. The meal that comes to mind for me is my grandmother’s macaroni and cheese with ham. It was my favorite meal as a child and when I eat it now as an adult it brings back so many memories. It is simple and not the most unique meal, but as a child, it was the best meal I had ever eaten.
By Amethyst Hayes5 years ago in Families
General gift ideas for your loved ones
Gifts are the presents we give with the ones we have a relationship with. The connection can be of multiple types, and so do skills. Gifts show great value and represent the emotion of what we feel for them. Gifts are the symbol of the perceived value of the relationship acquired over the years. Heritage work on gives and take the policy, and if donations are received, it has to be repaid in some manner.
By Eddy Miller5 years ago in Families
Baking With Ghosts
One can tell the difference in the taste in food that was just thrown together and food that was prepared with love. My Omi was a prime example of the latter, when she cooked for her family. Her gift, however, was honed in service to the Austrian aristocracy. Before she retired and I was born, she mastered her craft as the head cook for the House of Habsburg in the region of Austria that she lived in, Upper Austria - Salzkammergut, which is about an hour east of Salzburg.
By Belinda Rainwater5 years ago in Families
