A Grieving Mother's Wish List

by Sarah Grandfield-Connors

Welcome to Paradise

by Sarah Grandfield-Connors

There is a short essay called "Welcome to Holland" which is meant to comfort a parent who has recently received information that their child has some type of developmental disability. The premise is that you have booked a trip to Italy, but your plane was re-routed to Holland. You miss the idea of Italy, the culture of Italy may always be a mystery with its own language and art -- but Holland is stunning itself. Beautiful but different. 

When we first understood that things with Beatrix may not go well someone sent me this essay. It was welcome as an affirmation of the life I was embarking on -- the life I assumed included a child with Down Syndrome -- because whenever there's a problem in pregnancy, that's the "worst" that could happen, right? 

This New Life

by Ashley Bowman

February 1st marked six months since I said hello then goodbye to my angel, Bentley. 6 MONTHS. It seems like such a short amount of time when you think about the length of a whole human life, but it's an excruciatingly long time when you are missing someone every second, of every day.  I have come to find that grief and that incredibly painful ache I feel every day living without my son only gets worse with time. Probably because every day is one day longer that it has been since I kissed him and held him. I already feel like he is quickly disappearing from our lives. Other than pictures and a few mementos, there is no sign that he was ever here. It kills me to know that I will never have anything more of him than I do now. I will never get take his picture as I  see him off on his first day of kindergarten or see his first steps. None of that, it has all been taken from us for reasons we will never know or understand. Everything happens for a reason has no part in baby loss.

This Wasn't My Dream

by Chrissy Storr

This wasn’t the dream I had for myself; parenting a baby for a couple days and then being a parent from afar when he ended up passing away. My dream had been very different. From a young age, I had wanted to be a mother, have a family that gathered together for the holidays, and shared memories. I imagined myself with little children who I would teach and raise to be productive, successful members of society. We would laugh, love, and create a family legacy. I believed that you got pregnant, had a beautiful baby, and brought it home.

I met my Joel at 25 1/2 weeks gestation. I had suffered pPROM, where your water breaks very early, before term, from a slow leak between 16-18 weeks along (diagnosed during my 18th week). Doctors suggested termination as labor often starts within 2 weeks of ruptured membranes. I held on to hope that he may be among the few babies that beat the odds. I stayed pregnant for 7 1/2 more weeks after my diagnosis. Unfortunately, a uterine infection set in, and I went into labor. I was so scared; I knew he wasn't ready to be born yet. I was in labor for about 12 hours. It was rough. They put me on oxygen and various IV meds. I was sick from the infection. But he was born, he was alive! When I saw him I fell in instant love. He was beautiful. Everybody commented how he looked so mature for his gestation. Joel looked like a miniature full term baby in a lot of ways. He was trying so hard to breathe on his own. The doctors intubated him and said he did so well he had a 70% chance of living. He was critically stable, and I was thrilled.

She Brings Joy

by Sarah Grandfield-Connors

I have had a difficult time writing something out for this project, as I am going through a low time. Even after four years, there are low times, when the sadness leaks out of you and touches everything around you.

I wanted to begin with an introduction and a background to my daughter's story. I hope to write here again, and would love to know that when I do- anyone reading will see the human being that my baby was, instead of the still images of a photograph.

When my Beatrix died, I shared her story with every organization that I could- what I will share here will be similar to what I wrote then, with some changes as appropriate, as an introduction for you, and a reminder for me. That even with the low times that followed, there was beauty in that storm.

There are so many important things that I would like to share about our story. The journey we went through to have our baby is just as important as what happened after she was born. I sometimes forget about that, the life that she lived before she lived her life.

Choosing Bentley

by Ashley Bowman

December 24th 2013, the day we got a positive pregnancy test. I remember being so excited I almost couldn't wait for my husband to get home to tell him, he ALMOST found out over the phone. We had been trying to get pregnant since July and although it didn't take but a few months, it felt like forever every time I had a negative pregnancy test. At one point I remember thinking to myself: you have two healthy children and maybe you should just be happy with that. I look back at that now like it was some sort of foreshadowing for what we were about to experience in the future, as crazy as that sounds.

We already had two beautiful children; Riley, who is 8 years old going on 16 and Hunter, he was 3 at the time. This baby was going to be our last. I remember being so happy and sad at the same time knowing that this was the last time I would experience all the joys of being pregnant. The next few days at several different Christmas parties it was hard not to scream the news but we wanted to wait until after the first doctors appointment to make sure everything was okay. It felt like forever until January 22nd was here and we had our first appointment. Everything seemed to be going great and we even got our first picture of our little peanut, I remember being really happy with our choice in doctor as she was going to be taking extra precautions due to my history of eclampsia. That evening after our appointment; we went from house to house telling our family. Everyone seemed to be so happy and excited for us. It finally felt official that we would be completing our family in September.
  
As the weeks went by everything continued to go as planned until March 6th, the day we were supposed to find out the sex of our baby. My doctors office had a special package where you could find out as soon as 14 weeks what you were having and the anticipation was killing my husband so we opted to find out early. I think deep down I always sensed that something was wrong, I am not sure how as everything pregnancy wise was going fine. I can't explain it, I just knew but as the ultrasound tech started measuring things during the ultrasound I just knew something was wrong

The 4th Trimester Bodies Project

This past Sunday and Monday I was in Boston. Some of you may have seen my Facebook and instagram post on Monday morning. While it was a wonderful mini getaway with my husband, I was there for a purpose. I was there to take part in a project that I started following not long after Hannah's death.

Permanent Grief and Sadness

Once a person goes through all 5 stages of grief, that doesn't mean these stages will not appear again in the future. Sometimes certain stages will take longer to work through. There's no time limit. It's important to go through each stage and not try to avoid them, no a matter how painful or uncomfortable they may be. I believe that grief and this sadness will never go away.

When Your Grief is Minimized

I pray this doesn't happen to you, but the sad truth is it probably will at some point or another.

I don't mean strangers or acquaintances minimizing your grief. I'm talking about those closest to you. Those who seemed to try to understand, who sympathized, who were sensitive, who gave their support, who were affected by the loss of your baby in a very personal way. Those are the people I am talking about.

Helping Those Going Through Baby Loss - We Need Your Help

{Click here to donate.}

**Update! Hannah's Heart and Love is officially a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization as of September 1st, 2014. But we are still in desperate need of donations both monetary and item donations. Any and all support is so greatly appreciated.

Losing our first and only child was one of the hardest things we have ever had to deal with as a couple.  It was full of heart ache, confusion, sadness, anger, and so many other emotions that making a list is nearly impossible.  When we first received the news that Hannah had some things that would make her chances of survival slim, we were lost.  What made this even harder is that there was really no where we could turn.  During the time from when we found out and even after she had passed away, there seemed to be a general lack of knowledge and support for us to turn towards.  Of course we had the support of our family and friends, but there were minimal resources available to help us.

Losing Hannah created a whole list of things that we now had thrown at us and didn’t know how to handle.  How do we handle such grief?  How do we explain ourselves to people?  How do we go home from the hospital with empty arms?  How do we plan a funeral and how do we pay for it?  This is just a few of the things that started going through our heads.  We had no answers, no where to look for answers and were forced to start working on these things on our own. 

Before we lost Hannah, we could never fully understand what it is like to lose a child.  We didn’t realize how real and painful this is.  There is a general lack of education and conversation about this topic.  People do not have a true understanding of everything that this tragic situation brings with it.  Many people, it seems just assume it all just goes away.  They think that people just move on and that it’s like nothing ever happened.     It is not just a minor thing that passes or fades.  I know this and feel this every time I see a baby or see an outfit or a photo frame or hear about people expecting because I know that at the end of the day, we had to go home without our baby.  The pain that we feel every day is absolutely real.  Our daughter is absolutely real. 

It is because of all of these reasons that we decided that we wanted to start Hannah’s Heart and Love.  The idea is to create a non-profit whose goal is to help families through the tragedy of baby loss.  With Hannah’s Heart and Love, we want to be able to provide aids and resources for the families who have lost.  We also want to provide “recovery boxes” to help the new mommy who is on the mend.  Finally it is also our goal to raise awareness and to educate people that baby loss is real and that it is not just something that will go away with time. 

In order for us to be able to help others, we need your help.  We are currently in the process of getting this non-profit off the ground.  The money that we are hoping to raise will be to help us pay for all of the fees and costs associated with starting such a venture, as well as used to help create packages and print materials to be used to help spread the word, educate people, and get our resource into the hands of those in need.  We have gone through this tragedy, but we don’t want our loss to just be the end of things.  We want to be able to take this bad experience and use it to help others.  Please help us to bring support, healing, and education to the people who need it.  We thank you in advance for your support. 

Losing our first and only child was one of the hardest things we have ever had to deal with as a couple.  It was full of heart ache, confusion, sadness, anger, and so many other emotions that making a list is nearly impossible.  When we first received the news that Hannah had some things that would make her chances of survival slim, we were lost.  What made this even harder is that there was really no where we could turn.  During the time from when we found out and even after she had passed away, there seemed to be a general lack of knowledge and support for us to turn towards.  Of course we had the support of our family and friends, but there were minimal resources available to help us.

Losing Hannah created a whole list of things that we now had thrown at us and didn’t know how to handle.  How do we handle such grief?  How do we explain ourselves to people?  How do we go home from the hospital with empty arms?  How do we plan a funeral and how do we pay for it?  This is just a few of the things that started going through our heads.  We had no answers, no where to look for answers and were forced to start working on these things on our own. 

Before we lost Hannah, we could never fully understand what it is like to lose a child.  We didn’t realize how real and painful this is.  There is a general lack of education and conversation about this topic.  People do not have a true understanding of everything that this tragic situation brings with it.  Many people, it seems just assume it all just goes away.  They think that people just move on and that it’s like nothing ever happened.     It is not just a minor thing that passes or fades.  I know this and feel this every time I see a baby or see an outfit or a photo frame or hear about people expecting because I know that at the end of the day, we had to go home without our baby.  The pain that we feel every day is absolutely real.  Our daughter is absolutely real. 

It is because of all of these reasons that we decided that we wanted to start Hannah’s Heart and Love.  The idea is to create a non-profit whose goal is to help families through the tragedy of baby loss.  With Hannah’s Heart and Love, we want to be able to provide aids and resources for the families who have lost.  We also want to provide “recovery boxes” to help the new mommy who is on the mend.  Finally it is also our goal to raise awareness and to educate people that baby loss is real and that it is not just something that will go away with time. 

In order for us to be able to help others, we need your help.  We are currently in the process of getting this non-profit off the ground.  The money that we are hoping to raise will be to help us pay for all of the fees and costs associated with starting such a venture, as well as used to help create packages and print materials to be used to help spread the word, educate people, and get our resource into the hands of those in need.  We have gone through this tragedy, but we don’t want our loss to just be the end of things.  We want to be able to take this bad experience and use it to help others.  Please help us to bring support, healing, and education to the people who need it.  We thank you in advance for your support. 

 

 

Medication - Am I Crazy?

**Always consult your Doctor about taking medication or about stopping the medication. This post is my own experience and for informational purposes only and not to replace the advice and direction of your Doctor.


The day after I gave birth to Hannah (on Christmas Eve) via emergency c-section my Doctor came to check on me and give me the basic rules of recovery. She wrote out multiple prescriptions (and actually dropped them off for us at the Pharmacy) including pain medicine, prenatal vitamins, iron, colace, Zoloft, and Ativan. Wait... Zoloft and Ativan?! By the expression on my face she knew I didn't want to take those. However, I have an anxiety disorder. I haven't taken anxiety medicine for years. I don't like to. I have learned various technics to help control it. I rarely had panic attacks. So why did I need these two medications? I can control this! My Doctor told me that I don't have to take them but she highly recommended it because of the situation and my anxiety disorder. She explained that I could just take an Ativan as needed (up to three times a day) and it will work right away. She then explained that Zoloft should be taken once a day but will take two weeks to get into my system.

I was initially against taking medication. I can grieve like a "normal" person. I'm not crazy. I can still control it. But I couldn't control it and I couldn't grieve like a "normal" person. My emotions were escalated. Nights were extremely hard. I was left alone with my thoughts and there were so many running through my mind all at once. I was exhausted physically and emotionally. It wasn't until the day after Christmas that I decided to start Zoloft and take Ativan during extreme times of an anxiety attack. Zoloft didn't take effect until the day of Hannah's funeral. I felt like I was finally starting to grieve "normally."

I can barely imagine how I would be without Zoloft and Ativan. It definitely does no come close to making me numb towards my feelings. They just allow me to grieve in a healthy way. I'm not crazy for taking either medication and neither are you. It's ok. Do not be ashamed of taking any type if medication after the loss of your baby. I'm not longer ashamed. There are many things in life we can't control and some of us need a little help to grieve "normally." There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It doesn't make us failures. It does define us. We need to grieve. We need to take our time and not rush our grief. If you need medication just every so often, every single day, weeks, months, years, or the rest of your life, it's ok.

 

Don't be afraid to talk to your Doctor. Also, don't be afraid to talk to your pastor, counselor, spiritual leader, etc. about taking medication. Sometimes we need a little extra support from others and to acknowledge that it's ok.

 

 

 

This Just Sucks!

This just sucks, plain and simple. Losing my baby sucks. Learning to live without my baby sucks. This whole entire situation sucks.

It hurts emotionally and physically. My heart literally aches. My arm literally aches. I just want to hold her. I just want to show her my love. I just want her here. There are times I just break down and literally have no control over it. It's happened during church, at a musical, at the mall, watching tv, laying in bed, and many others places. There are terrible days I just want to crawl in a hole and never come out. There are ok days when I enjoy moments throughout the day. There are days that are a mixture. I can easily talk about Hannah's health, but there are other things I can't mention or barely think about without breaking down.

It doesn't matter how strong we are, if we take medicine to help with the emotional pain, if we are young moms or older moms or moms in between, if we are religious, if we have other living children, if we have support, losing our babies sucks. It's that simple.

As mommies and daddies of baby loss we are allowed to say it sucks, to have bad days, bad moments, to grieve and mourn. Our lives have been forever changed and it will never be the same.

Psalm 34:18          
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

 

Welcome... But sorry you are here.

Welcome to everyone visiting our new support site, Hannah's Heart and Love. So sorry it is under these circumstances. I'm so sorry for the loss of your precious baby. I understand what you are going through. My daughter Hannah was given a fatal diagnosis at her 20 anatomy scan. Hannah passed away in her 24th week and had to be delivered via C-section that same day. You can read more about our story here. We hope to provide you with comfort, hope, and support. Feel free to contact us for anything. No question is dumb! Most people can't begin to imagine the pain and the grief you are going through.