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Miscarriage and Abortion: How a Devastating Miscarriage Made Me Pro-Choice
As someone who struggled to get and stay pregnant, you might think I'd be angry at the thought of someone terminating a pregnancy. But my experiences have only made me more compassionate to women who find themselves faced with a difficult choice.
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A letter to myself, in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
It’s Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and I’m feeling the need to reflect on my journey. Now that I’m on the other side of pregnancy loss, I have so much sympathy and gratitude for the version of me who survived it. A letter to myself for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. To the version of myself going through recurrent miscarriages: Let me just cut to the ending, because I know you can’t stand the suspense (if this were a movie, you’d be googling the plot by now): you have a son! He’s healthy, he’s alive… He’s here. Now that you know how this ends, let’s go back to…
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Even Now: A New Mother’s Day Shirt
Hey, everyone! Just a quick update to say I have added a new Mother’s Day shirt design to Bonfire. This one will be available for 2 weeks and will also arrive in time for Mother’s Day. Click here or on the pictures to check it out! Here’s why I created this Mother’s Day shirt: When I was going through my first miscarriage, I found great comfort in the story of Lazarus. Facing the death of her brother, Martha’s faith shone through as she told Jesus, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” (John 11:22 ESV). Even Now. Those words were what stood…
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Every Mother Honored
I never really thought much about Mother’s Day until we started trying to conceive. It was always a big deal, especially having grown up in church. Sermons were given on the importance of motherhood. Women who were easily identified as mothers were asked to stand. On the way out, flowers and candy were distributed to the worthy. It always seemed like a sweet, simple way to honor the mothers who do much thankless work, and it is. But as I struggled to conceive and carry a baby to term, it became apparent that Mother’s Day is anything but simple. Bitterness, shame, grief, regret, anger, disappointment, annoyance…these are the emotions that…
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The Positive, Calm Hospital Birth Story of Our Rainbow Baby
It’s Vincent’s first birthday, so I figured it was time to share his birth story. Birth Story: Going into L&D I’m still amazed at the timing of it all. The experience was very full-circle and restorative for me. January 9th. Oh, that date had had many painful emotions associated with it. It was the day we physically lost our third baby. We had found out nearly three weeks prior that the heartbeat had stopped, and on January 9th, 2018, the miscarriage ended with an unexpected surgery. (You can read that story in my D&C posts). So, to say it was surreal to walk into the same hospital on the exact…
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Thoughts After My Fourth Miscarriage
I’m still in a bit of disbelief that this is our experience. It never gets easier, but I’ve grown and gained new understanding through each loss. These are some thoughts I’ve had while going through our most recent loss. On finding out From the moment I found out I was pregnant for the fourth time, I felt like I was holding my breath. I was hopeful and happy, but I was also waiting for the other shoe to drop. I wanted to stay positive, but my first thoughts weren’t “we’re having a baby in nine months.” My first thoughts were “I wonder how it will end this time.” This is…
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A year ago I learned of you, a year ago I lost you.
Last year, on October 2nd, I learned that you existed. I knew before I really knew. I knew that there would be two lines on the test. The two week wait turned into a three week wait as I tested negative again and again. I should have known it wasn’t a good sign. But I knew you were there, even before you made yourself known. And I had hope. During those weeks, I bought a maternity shirt that reads “baby”. I bought it right after getting another negative result. I don’t know why I did. But I wore that shirt to bed nearly every night. I wore a smile, too.…
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Grief and Hope
With our second baby’s should-have-been-due date coming up, I’ve been having more emotional meltdowns lately. Most of the time I can be positive and hopeful, but a lot of the time I still feel anger and bitterness. That’s how grieving has been for me. Even I have a hard time accepting the reality of these conflicting emotions, so it shouldn’t surprise me that many others don’t understand it either. It’s exhausting trying to open up on the hard days. While there are some great people in my life who know how to truly listen, there are just as many who do not. Some ask how I’m doing, but can’t handle…
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On Taking A Break
It sucks. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been nice to not worry about tracking my cycle or symptom spotting. But more than anything, I want to be pregnant again. Or maybe it’s that I wish I was still pregnant. Because I know that if I were to see those two lines again now, I would be so happy. I might even be able to celebrate. But then there’s the waiting. Waiting for the blood work results. And the next blood work results… And if everything is good with that, then there’s more waiting. Waiting for the first ultrasound. Holding my breath while they take measurements and look for a heartbeat……
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My D&C Part 4: After
This is the final part of my D&C story. To read the previous parts, follow the links below: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Once home, we grabbed the mail. One of the items was a baby registry magazine from Target (don’t you love irony?) I tossed it onto the kitchen table, with the intentions of burning it later. I also had a package waiting on me–a beautiful picture frame to keep our ultrasound photos in. I opened it, and read the words “Planted on Earth to Bloom in Heaven”. That was the first time I cried, realizing that our baby was gone and I was empty. Then we both…
