Tiffany Moore, 33, feeds dinner to her 11-month-old son Aydin Bowens while speaking on the phone on Sept. 27, 2023, at her home in Sedalia, Mo. “My mom always made us a four-course meal, so I always try to do the same for my kids,” Tiffany said.

Tiffany, who recently gave birth to twins, injects medicine for reflux into her 11-month-old son Raydin Bowens’ feeding tube at her home. “It makes me sad because I want them to be on the same stage, but he is always behind because of all of his issues,” Tiffany said. “I am a doctor twice a day. Here comes Doctor Mommy!” 

Tiffany tucks her son Hezekiah Moore, 8, in for bed at her home. “I think I have done a damn good job at being a mom for the last 11 years, and thankfully they are all still alive,” Tiffany said.

Tiffany naps on the couch, which she uses as her bed, as her son Raydin sleeps next to her. Tiffany is the mother of 11-month-old twins. “It’s a constant ongoing battle,” Tiffany said. “I can’t even shower because as soon as they are both asleep I need to get my sleep.”

Moments after being woken up from a nap, Tiffany watches an exterminator search for bed bugs in the couch where she sleeps at her public housing apartment. After Tiffany didn’t answer a knock at her door, a maintenance worker keyed into her apartment to let the exterminator inside. “The new management has been good at getting the drug dealers out of the building, but I have been saving for a long time to get a house,” Tiffany said. “I don’t want my kids to think this is normal.”

Tiffany takes a moment to smoke a cigarette while grocery shopping with her sister outside a Dollar Tree. This was the second of three stores the sisters visited that day. “Nobody likes grocery shopping with me because I am a penny pincher,” Tiffany said. “I go to three grocery stores every time to save the most money.”

Tiffany cries at her mother’s grave at the Crown Hill Cemetery. “I always bring her $1.15 because that’s how much her favorite fountain drink cost,” Tiffany said. “She held this family together, and everyone started disappearing when she left. She was the strongest of the bunch.”

Tiffany collects herself after visiting her mother’s grave. When the pressures of motherhood become too much and Tiffany needs time to herself, she will borrow a friend’s car to run errands or simply drive around town.

From left, Tiffany watches as her son Aydin plays with her father, Noble Moore Sr., as they wait to see a doctor for Aydin’s ear infection on Sept. 27, 2023, at Bothwell TLC Pediatrics in Sedalia, Mo. Tiffany gave birth to her twins prematurely, and their medical needs often require them to travel an hour and a half to Kansas City, Mo.

Tiffany plays with her son Aydin as they wait to see a doctor for an ear infection at Bothwell TLC Pediatrics in Sedalia. This was Tiffany’s third visit in less than a week, and she said some of her experiences with doctors in the area have been negative.

Tiffany holds  Raydin as her father Noble chases Aydin at Tiffany’s home. After she gave birth to her twins, Tiffany had to spend weeks at time with doctors in Kansas City, as they cared for Raydin, who was diagnosed with “failure to thrive.” While she was away from Sedalia, her father stepped in to live with and care for Aydin. 

Tiffany walks through a skywalk pushing her son Raydin  in a stroller, hoping he will nap in Kansas City. Tiffany had to wait almost a full year for doctors to perform a swallow study, as well as a battery of gastrointestinal exams, on her son. “I try and walk when I am here,” Tiffany said. “There really isn’t much for me to do other than walk and eat.”

Tiffany naps with Raydin, at the Ronald McDonald House in Kansas City. Tiffany and her son are in Kansas City for a swallow study and various other tests she has been waiting almost a year for. “I don’t like to hang around the Ronald McDonald house,” Tiffany said. “If I am around there too much, people start wanting to be in your business. They start asking all these questions, and I have told his story so many times it’s old.”