You can help, even when feeling helpless

By: Marie Kriedman It can be difficult when friends or family grieve a loss. Watching someone work through shock and crippling pain is even more difficult when you want to help. There are no concrete steps that will make it better, and it can feel helpless. A friend of mine experienced a baby loss at…

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Grieving Individually and as a Couple

By: Marie Kriedman My water broke unexpectedly on a Sunday morning, and I gave birth at home. My husband cradled our tiny daughter while I spoke with the on-call OB. She urged me to go to the ER for care. I left the hospital with an empty uterus, a body that still looked pregnant, and…

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Making Sure She Matters

By: Marie Kriedman Miscarriages are an emotional bombshell on many levels.  The holidays can be an additional burden to families struggling with heartache. One of my struggles is knowing my daughter’s impact.  She has no birth certificate and no social security number.  Olivia was deeply loved within my family, but I have no proof of…

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The Days can be Good and Bad

By: Marie Kriedman A pregnancy loss took my breath away before my daughter had a chance to experience her first one. Like many women, I had no idea what it meant to recover from a miscarriage until I was in the middle of the experience.  There were many things I “had” to do, for which…

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A Symbol of Hope and Peace

By: Marie Kriedman My miscarriage made me doubt that grief is survivable. Rationally, I knew I would survive, but emotionally, my pain was so raw that I couldn’t breathe. A friend told me that grief is like an ocean tide. The concept really resonated with me. Grief is strong, powerful, and crushing when it first…

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Sad Moments During Special Days

By: Marie Kriedman I find myself in a new place of my grief journey:  regret, with a side helping of disappointment and sorrow. I am struggling with the fact that my last pregnancy ended in death.  My husband and I would like to add to our family, but my age makes it more difficult.  We…

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A New Year

By: Lauren Hearne It’s a time to reflect on the past year and plan for what this new year will bring and make lists/goals/resolutions/etc. I always loved the idea of a new year and the hope of what that may bring and a chance for a fresh start. I always loved the idea of making…

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Suggestions for a Well Deserved Mother’s Day and Father’s Day

By: Cathi Lammert Often times Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are two of the most difficult days for bereavedparents. Some have told me that these days are so painful that they are not able to even acknowledge itfor their own mom or dad, and they celebrate with their parents on a different day. Over the…

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That Pearl of Great Price

By: Elise Donovan The following is an exert from Elise Donovan’s new book The Pearl of Great Price: A Year of Birth, Death, and Awakening. This book shares the story of the loss of her daughter Carly, and the journal entries of the year following her loss. Twenty-one years ago today, I birthed my lifeless…

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