The Question “Congratulations,” said the young man at the cashier’s station with a smile after a few glances at my hard-to-miss baby bump. He was so sincere and seemed genuinely happy for me, a stranger he’d never met. As I put the last few grocery items on the conveyer belt, I thought to myself how…
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4 Things Not To Say To Pregnancy After Loss Parents
Continue...Sometimes, even the kindest, most well-intentioned individuals can say the wrong things, especially to loss parents. It’s understandably difficult for non-loss parents to know what to say around those who’ve experienced the death of their baby or child, so they unknowingly end up using phrases that can sting. Knowing what to say becomes even more…
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The Healing Power of Pets After Loss
Continue...When my baby, Lucy, passed away at just a day old, I felt as though I’d become purposeless. Everything I thought I was, everything my life was supposed to be, it all disappeared the moment her heart stopped beating. In the early weeks after she was gone, my husband and I basically shut ourselves up…
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Three Reasons Why the Idea of Karma is Awful After Loss
Continue...Long ago, when I was an unbroken woman, I believed in karma. Embracing karmic phrases like “what goes around comes around” and “everything happens for a reason”, I unwittingly believed that life, eventually, would always turn out to be fair. Then, our newborn daughter Lucy died. I learned quickly that nothing in life has to…
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An Open Letter to a Happy Mama from Her Bereaved Mama Friend
Continue...My Dear Sweet Mama Friend, I see you. I see the joy radiating from your lovely smile as you eagerly embrace your precious children. You waited a long time for motherhood; I know without a doubt that you deserve this happiness. We’ve been friends for such a while, sharing in each other’s successes and failures,…
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Getting Real About Another Holiday Season After Loss
Continue...Here’s an honest, real snapshot of my life as a loss mom during the holiday season. It’s the second Christmas without my baby. I am so unimaginably angry that she doesn’t get to be here with us. I’m still heartbroken, restless, and I constantly ache to hold my child. I want to kickbox the Christmas…
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Saying Good-bye to the Mother I Was Supposed to Be
Continue...I see her in my mind’s eye: beautifully pregnant, rosy-cheeked, anxiously awaiting the birth of the amazing little human in her womb. As she carefully placed the freshly washed, tiny girl clothes in the drawers meant for her sweet baby, she thought ahead to the lessons she might lovingly teach her daughter someday. She re-counted…