Category: Hope First

Below you will find a story by one of Hope First’s clients. It had been four years since my abortion, and I was still suffering with the pain, shame, grief, and guilt.  I tried so hard to resolve these negative emotions on my own to no avail. I couldn’t live like this anymore. I was…

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It didn’t seem possible at the time.  It seemed completely and utterly IMPOSSIBLE, actually.  Gary and I both knew we had no extra money or savings, and we had dreams for our future that didn’t involve having a baby at 20.  This was not our dream.  It was not our plan.  So we went online…

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David had not left Stella’s side for 3 days as she laid in her hospital bed. Despite his own health issues, being an 87 year old man, he was present through it all. He stayed awake and held her hand until he was sure she was out of the woods. This snapshot of husband and wife together…

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As I look down at my keyboard and type, I notice orange dust covering the keys. I am currently 17 weeks pregnant, and I am counting down the minutes till 11:30, which my coworker has deemed an appropriate time to have lunch. In the meantime, I am snacking on Cheetos. I am not sure if…

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You’ve probably heard this phrase once or twice in your life before, and if you are currently pregnant, people probably love to tell you exactly what you should be eating and what you shouldn’t. While I am not a medical professional, I am a newly pregnant first-time mom who I trying to make sense of…

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So there are a lot of opinions out there about pregnancy and everything that comes with it. People tell you how you should and shouldn’t feel right from the beginning, which I think can create a lot of guilt. Well, I am here to tell you something. All pregnancies are different, and all are surrounded…

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Our wonderful client advocate, Tammy, shares her story with our center below. I have loved and believed in the mission of Hope First ever since I first learned about it two years ago. I began volunteering behind the scenes helping with fundraisers and sending out mass mailings. Over that year, I saw the most amazing,…

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I hear often that a lot changes when a woman becomes pregnant. Some of the changes are expected, like nausea or a growing belly, but others have more to do with the long term. Like how different their lives will look with a child as opposed to being on their own, or how plans have…

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Does it ever seem like when you’re already past your breaking point, something else hits you and leaves you lying on the floor? Or maybe the one thing you hate most in life, the circumstance that you just want GONE NOW, seems like it is and will last forever. In moments like these, we all,…

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For most women, the first symptom of pregnancy that they notice is a missed period. Usually, this will prompt them to take a home test or call their doctor. Many women don’t know, however, that just 1 week after your missed period, the baby’s heart begins to BEAT! When I was training to become a client advocate at…

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