On General Hospital, Nina was desperate to be a mother, but in real life, her portrayer, Michelle Stafford, is a mom-of-two and couldn’t be happier, sharing beautiful photos of seven-year-old Natalia and two-year-old Jameson on social media. And in a recent post, the actress shared a heartwarming sentiment about motherhood that all mothers can relate to.

“And this is what it’s come to,” Michelle wrote of a selfie she took of herself in bed with her babies curled up next to her. “I wasn’t gonna be this mom, but here I am. It’s just easier to keep them here than deal with the crying. It’s not always like this, but these days… it kinda is. They have left me with a little piece of my own bed. Sweet.”

“These days I’ll cherish,” she continued. “They keep saying ‘These days you’ll cherish.’ Okay. I mean, I can’t sleep, but okay. Ah, who am I to complain, and I’m not. But it is the truth, this picture. I’m just happy they want to be around me.”

Nearly a week later, Michelle shared another photo of herself with Natalia — who will be turning eight on Dec. 21 — from her dance recital. And nothing on Earth would keep her from seeing her little girl up on that stage. “When you are so sick you just want to collapse and on enough codeine from your cough syrup to take out 10 horses but you rally to make it to your daughter’s holiday recital,” Mom joked. “And she never knows any of that is happening. Girls, that’s motherhood.”

Every parent knows you can’t take sick days, especially if you’re a single parent! But there isn’t anything that Stafford wouldn’t do for her kids as she has proven time and time again. Check out some of the absolutely beautiful moments they’ve shared in this special video!

This story originally appeared on our sister site, ABC Soaps In Depth.