What It's Like to Be a Mom With a Life Expectancy

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Emmah Money is a 28-year-old mother of two. From the looks of a stunning maternity photo she posted as a throwback on her Facebook page, she seems like a relatable - if not enviable - mom. But in reality, she shouldn't even be alive right now.

Emmah suffers from cystic fibrosis - a genetic life-threatening condition that damages the lungs and digestive system - and at birth, doctors warned her parents she wouldn't live past 5 years old. If by some miracle she did, they made it clear she'd never be able to have children.

Fast-forward to today, and Emmah has beaten the odds, having given birth naturally to daughter Ayvah, 3, and son Logan, who was born nearly a year ago.

Although her first pregnancy was healthy, her second was far more difficult. "I was induced at 37 weeks because I could hardly string a sentence together without coughing," she told The SaltyLife magazine, a publication in support of those with CF. "It took a lot out of me."

To say that the hardest part was over, however, is an understatement. Although every case is different, most with the disorder don't live past their 20s or 30s, and Emmah - who has a life expectancy of 37 years - constantly works to keep CF symptoms at bay, all while raising two young children.

According to her Facebook page, CF Mummy, the Australia native takes daily antibiotics, has thrice daily physiotherapy, and undergoes intravenous antibiotic therapy a few times each year, which means she's hooked up to a pump for 24 hours a day for upward of three weeks straight.

"It takes a lot of work just to be healthy," she said, noting that perhaps the hardest part of being a mother with CF is remembering that making her health her top priority is the same as making her children her top priority.

"They are my motivation to be compliant with my treatments," she told the magazine. "It gives me a reason to keep going."

She has said that "living to the age of 37 just won't cut it" and that she refuses to let a deadline get in the way of all she plans to do in her life. "I hope to see my children grow up and have grandchildren of my own. I want to be here for when the cure for CF is found and be able to say confidently I kicked CF in the butt and be free of the disease."

Although it's a concept that's hard for many parents to fully grasp, she made it clear her disease doesn't define her, that it's not even the most important part of her. "Motherhood is indescribable," she said. "It is the hardest job but by far the most rewarding."

Now, how relatable is that?