This week on Trauma Candy Salad, we sit with Madysen — a mother whose story is almost unbelievable in its depth, grief, and resilience.

Outside of becoming part of the 80% of women who miscarry their first baby, Madysen has lived through more loss than most mothers ever will.

Madysen walks us through:

• Three pregnancy losses

• A first baby whose severe ear infections regressed her speech and left her nearly “deaf”

• A second daughter rushed into repeated hospitalizations before her first birthday

• A diagnosis of hyper-pituitarism, ketotic hypoglycemia, and a life-threatening pituitary aneurysm

• Living with the fear her baby might need brain surgery

• A miscarriage at 10 weeks that nearly caused her to bleed out

• Becoming pregnant with conjoined twins — a 1 in 14.6 million occurrence

• Facing Iowa’s restrictive laws after learning both twins’ hearts were failing

• The impossible decision no parent ever wants to face

Madysen’s story is one of survival — financially, mentally, physically, and emotionally. It explains why she parents the way she does, why she carries the fears she carries, and how losing four babies and nearly a fifth shapes every part of motherhood.

This episode is raw, real, and important.

If you’ve been through miscarriage, high-risk pregnancy, medical motherhood, or complicated grief, Madysen’s story will remind you that you are not alone.