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LGBTQ daughter surprises mother with pregnancy after secret IVF

She thought she would never have grandchildren and got the surprise of a lifetime.

Aurelia TikTok screenshots

LGBTQ daughter surprises mother with pregnancy after secret IVF.

Many parents dream of becoming grandparents. Oftentimes, people think about grandkids before they even become a parent as a "when I'm old" daydream about what life will be like at a later stage. It shouldn't be surprising that some parents of adult children may feel a little bummed when their child decides not to have children or can't have them. Or in some cases, parents assume their child's membership in the LGBTQ community would prevent them from having babies.

The majority of parents simply want their children to be happy, so they readjust their dream and support their children. But in the case of one mom of an adult child, her assumption was simply wrong.

TikTok creator Aurelia uploaded a video to reveal a birthday surprise for her mother wrapped in a large box. She explains to her mom why she's recording but doesn't give away what's inside the box.

Shortly after unwrapping it, Aurelia's mom pulls a teddy bear dressed in a t-shirt and little pants out of the box. Through excited confusion, she yells, "What is this?!" before Aurelia instructs her to press the paw on the bear.

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Family

12 hilariously relatable comics about life as a new mom.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.

Some good not so good moments with babies.

This article originally appeared on 09.13.17

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.

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Motherhood

Visually impaired mom can now 'see' her baby's ultrasound, thanks to science

'I've not been able to see his ultrasounds at all, so like this is so cool.'

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

A visually impaired mom can now 'see' her baby's ultrasound.

An ultrasound is typically the first opportunity for a new parent to visibly connect with their unborn child, but some parents don't get to "see" their baby's first image due to being blind or visually impaired.

This was the case for Ashton Johnson, an expectant mom from Nebraska, who also wasn't able to see the glossy black and white print-out of the ultrasound due to her visual impairment. Traditional ultrasound pictures are slick when they're printed, and without any ridges or bumps on the image, Johnson wasn't able to visualize what the picture looked like.

But her OBGYN, Dr. Katie Sekpe, had a plan to help the mom-to-be "see" her ultrasounds, instead of relying solely on her husband's descriptions. Dr. Sekpe contacted Dr. John Coté, another OBGYN, to ask him to create 3D prints of the couple's ultrasound pictures.

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Family

College student explains how she learned she was pregnant right before giving birth

She thought it was her appendix.

via Kaylani Simpson/TikTok

Kaylani Simpson with her beautiful baby girl.

Kaylani Simpson has gone megaviral on TikTok for a video describing how she went to the ER with what she thought was appendicitis but wound up being a baby girl. The video has received more than 18.8 million views on the platform.

Simpson says it all began when she went to a college party as a sophomore. Nine months later, she went to the hospital complaining of abdominal pain.

“Doctors didn’t know what was wrong in the ER,” she captioned the video. “While they were doing an ultrasound, my mother saw something familiar on the screen. Seconds later I started screaming and the doctor ran in. It was a head! I was rushed up to give birth. I pushed her out 15 min later in three tries.”

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A mom told her OB she might have postpartum depression. Then they called the cops.

Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash

woman's face photograph

This story originally appeared on 01.24.18

Jessica Porten recently visited her doctor four months after giving birth to her daughter, Kira. She wasn't feeling quite like herself.

She had been dealing with overwhelming sadness and fits of anger, which she knew was likely stemming from a case of postpartum depression.

In a Facebook post, Porten recounts the story of that appointment.

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Health

5 things I didn't want to hear when I was grieving and 1 thing that helped

This article originally appeared on July 15, 2016

In 2013, I found out I was pregnant with triplets.

Image via iStock.

My husband and I were in shock but thrilled at the news after dealing with infertility for years. And it didn't take long for the comments to begin. When people found out, the usual remarks followed: "Triplets?! What are you going to do? Three kids at once?! Glad it's not me!"

After mastering my response (and an evil look reserved for the rudest comments), I figured that was the worst of it. But little did I know I would be facing far worse comments after two of my triplets passed away.

On June 23, 2013, I gave birth to my triplets, more than four months premature.

My daughter, Abigail, passed away that same day; my son, Parker, died just shy of 2 months old. Before then, I didn't know much about child loss; it was uncharted territory. Like most people, I wouldn't know how to respond or what to say if a friend's child passed away.

Image via iStock.

But two years later, I have found that some things are better left unsaid. These comments come from a good place, and I know people mean well, but they sure do sting.

Here are my top five things not to say to a grieving parent — and the thing I love to hear instead.

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She thought she would never have grandchildren and got the surprise of a lifetime.

Birth is intense. It's also beautiful.

When San Francisco photographer Lisa Robinson was about to have her second child, she was both excited and nervous.

Normally, Lisa takes portraits and does wedding photography, so she knew the logistics of being her own birth photographer would be a somewhat precarious new adventure — to say the least.

In the hospital, she realized it was a lot harder to hold her camera steady than she initially thought it would be.

The shots she ended up getting speak for themselves:

In the end, Lisa was so glad she went through with her experiment. She got incredible pictures — and it actually did make her labor easier.

Lisa's mom took this last one.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

1. Pee-regnant.

2. How (not) to sleep.

3. Cry baby.

4. The new things that scare you...

5. ...and the new things that give you the creeps.

6. Being a new mom can get a little ... disgusting.

7. And every mom has experienced these postpartum horror stories.

8. There are many, many memorable firsts.

9. Getting to know your post-baby body is an adventure.

10. Pumping ain't for wimps.

11. You become very comfortable with spit-up. Very comfortable.

12. Your body, mind, and most importantly, heart, will expand in ways you didn't know possible.

'I've not been able to see his ultrasounds at all, so like this is so cool.'

She thought it was her appendix.

Jessica Porten recently visited her doctor four months after giving birth to her daughter, Kira. She wasn't feeling quite like herself.

But instead of getting help, as Porten tells it, the office did something pretty unexpected: They called the police.

The worst part? Porten never got the help she asked for.

Postpartum depression is a serious issue - as is the stigma it carries.

It's time for a different approach.

In 2013, I found out I was pregnant with triplets.

On June 23, 2013, I gave birth to my triplets, more than four months premature.

1. "Everything happens for a reason."

2. "They are in a better place."

3. "At least you have one survivor. Count your blessings."

4. "You are still young. You can have more children."

5. "I don't know how you do it. I couldn't imagine losing two children."

So, what should you say to a grieving parent?