Someone Sent Me Black Balloons After I Gave Birth—When I Opened the Box, I Discovered a Secret That Changed Everything

he ever got to meet our daughter.

I spent the rest of my pregnancy in a kind of stunned survival. I ate because people reminded me to. I went to appointments because I had to. I bought onesies, diapers, and a car seat while feeling like I was moving through somebody else’s tragedy.

My parents and friends helped.

My mother-in-law, Eileen, did not.