I was severely disabled eight weeks before my son was born. This meant I was left out from many typical parenting activities as my husband took on the bulk of the child care. I often looked on with envy as he was changing diapers or teaching the babies how to walk.

I was six months pregnant with our second son when a stroke left me completely paralyzed on my left side. Our firstborn son was not quite two years old when this happened. When I came home from the hospital three months later, I was in a wheelchair.

I had…