Life of a Medical Mom

To be a medical mom, the term isn't heard very often and people don't quite understand what it is to be one. A medical mom goes through more trials then any other type of mom. Our lives revolve around hospitals, doctors, exams, procedures, and several types of medical terms we have no clue about! As a medical mom, our mothering tactics are taught differently, we are always on our toes/feet ready to go at the slightest move. We watch as our little ones go through things we can't fathom going through. They are poked with needs, always on some medication we can't pronounce, sometimes if they are still young we watch as they get IVs put into their little heads because it's the only place they can find a viable vein. We sit in waiting rooms during surgeries rattled with worry as family does their best to try and take our minds off the fact our child could die. A medical mom's life is never an easy one to live. We sit at bedside some nights afraid to leave their side, forgetting that we need to shower, eat, and even sleep. Our child's machines are our lullabies for when we do finally fall asleep but once those machines begin to beep we are awake again ready for the worst. Two and a half months, six months, five years, 15 years, these are some times for when moms and children are in the hospital some kids never leave, others leave then within days are back and even in worse shape.

We cry alone in the bathroom when we do get a chance to go, we cry silently into our coffees as our child's doctor gives us the bad news, "her heart is beginning to fail." Three months old, barely a life even lived and it's being taken from her. Two and a half months out of three if she is a alive, she is in a hospital, never getting the chance to really know what home is, what her own bed feels like. What it's like to have her family under one roof holding her and praising her, instead she lays in a hospital bed looking at mommies tired soul, trying cry but can't. As her mother, you want to hold her close but doctors say "sleep is best"— you haven't held your baby in weeks, months, years. Days go by and you begin to lose pieces of yourself, you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel for the light in your happy soul begins to fade. No one prepares you on becoming a medical mom, no one warns you about the hard ships of watching your child die over and over again. At this point you are hungry, you realize you haven't eaten in a week, you've been living off coffee and stale pretzels. No one realizes as a medical mom, we are the greatest warriors, on the inside we are racked with fear and pain. On the outside, we remain positive and light so our children can heal and grow strong. If you know a medical mom please check on them, ask them how their day has been, relieve them from the bed side they feel shackled too— so they can take a shower, get some food and heal their minds. Bring them clean clothes, food even something to drink besides the same old coffee over and over again. Show them they are not alone.