Posts Tagged ‘infant loss’
Self Care After Baby Loss: Finding Your Way
By: Brooke Taylor Duckworth When your baby dies, the last thing you really want to take care of is yourself. You just spent weeks and months daydreaming of taking care of an infant—and in all likelihood, you started that process by taking care of yourself during pregnancy. But, somehow, it didn’t work. I was so…
Read MoreBeing a Father With an Asterisk
By: Christopher C. Natsch I’m a father who lost his son. That statement should stand on its own. But, for me and for many other dads that I’ve talked with, it’s just not that simple. As a father who suffered a loss due to stillbirth, there was a time that I felt as if that statement…
Read MoreThree Words
By: Brooke Taylor Duckworth When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I was determined to have a natural, unmedicated labor and delivery. You see, when I was pregnant with my first daughter, I thought such things were important. I assumed that getting to my third trimester meant that the baby would live and that…
Read MoreMother’s Day With Empty Arms
By: Heather West As Mother’s Day approaches I often hear the words “you’re still a mom,” as much as those words are very true, if I am honest I’m not sure how they make me feel. Am I proud to be a mom? ABSOLUTELY, with everything I have, but are those words supposed to make…
Read MoreRemembering on Mother’s Day
By: Rachael Fast My first Mother’s day was May 8, 2011. Exactly two months after my daughter had been born sleeping. It was an incredibly difficult day, not only was it my first mother’s day and the day Elaina should have turned 2 months old, but it was the day the denial and numbness wore…
Read MoreA History of Mother’s Day
By: Brooke Taylor Duckworth I found out I was pregnant with my first baby on Mother’s Day. We were in the middle of a home remodeling project and the house was a mess, but I remember showing those two pink lines to my husband and him sweeping me up in a big hug. It felt…
Read MoreThe Life That Is Waiting For Us
By: Brooke Taylor Duckworth When I lost Eliza, I began reading blogs written by other bereaved parents and “baby loss mamas.” I gravitated toward those who were on a grief timeline similar to mine, who had experienced their loss around the same time I had. I also wanted to read some blogs written by women…
Read MoreI’m Not The Mom I Dreamed I’d Be
By: Rachael Fast This topic seemed so easy to write about, however, as I sit to write, my mind goes blank. How do I write about something that is all I’ve ever known, as far as parenting goes? My first baby girl, Elaina Hope was stillborn at 40 weeks in March 2011. She was my…
Read MoreGrieving Honestly: Parenting After Loss
By: Brooke Taylor Duckworth A few weeks ago, I was ushering my daughter out of a crowded waiting room where she had been making small talk with an older woman. I overheard her talking about her little sister. As I opened the door and reached for her hand, she turned to the woman, who was…
Read MoreMy Dearest Dolly
By: Heather West My dearest Dolly, How do I put into words the many ways you changed my life? There is so much I want to say to you, but I was not granted with the blessing of telling you in person. Instead I am forced to unwillingly put on layers upon layers, bundle up,…
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