From the Caregiver's HAErt – a Column by Danita LaShelle Jones

Ten Steps Forward, Eight Steps Back

I triumphantly pressed enter and marveled at my epic post on social media. There were no hospital visits, no rushes to the emergency room, and no urgent phone calls to after-hour physicians’ lines. Our second-born, affectionally known as Ladybug, had gone three solid weeks without any medical incidents. What better…

Not Majoring in Minor Health Moments

The familiar number flashed across my phone screen, and I audibly groaned. After a particularly arduous morning dealing with late school buses, forgotten lunches, and a few involved errands, I had finally reached a moment where everything settled. Yet the sound of my phone vibrating against the table yanked me…

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

I stared down at the incoming text message and completely froze. The beeps from her monitor in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) had finally settled into a consistent rhythm. Although our oldest daughter, whom we lovingly refer to as Ladybug, was resting, my adrenaline was still pumping from the…

Because the Other Kids Get Sick, Too

I haplessly fell backward on my bed, blew a sharp breath out of my mouth, and stared at the ceiling. We had made it to the middle of the week without any incidents with my oldest daughter, nicknamed Ladybug. We hadn’t needed to make a trip to see the pediatrician,…

How I Stopped Forgetting to Remember

After a losing battle trying to find a comfortable sleeping position, I sat up in bed, maneuvered my laptop around my large, pregnant belly, and started Googling “tips on having twins.” By hour two, I had a wealth of information, mostly from reputable websites about babies and parenting. But my…

Coming to Terms With Caregiver’s Guilt

By the time my husband and I added a set of twins to our already rambunctious 5- and 2-year-old, family and friends appropriately named our house “the Circus.” Sure, there were families out there with way more kids than we had, but our reality was what mattered. Everything seemed to…