Dear Tracy, It’s me, yourself, five years from now. Strange, right? I’m writing to you because I know something that you need to know. Knowing shortly before it happens will not lessen your pain, but my goal is to help, because I know that you like to have ALL of the information on any given [...]
I volunteer as a facilitator for a pregnancy and infant loss support group. Although hearing the stories and witnessing the raw grief is very heavy, I'd be lying if I said I didn't get something out of it too. I get to talk about my son who died, Oberon. I know how important it is [...]
The mental load of normal mothering is hard enough. But when you add in loss or infertility, the load seems endless. "Next year, he's going to plan at least one of the parties from start to finish ..." I found myself ruminating as I frantically pulled together the last minute items before guests began arriving. [...]
During my first pregnancy, I was surrounded by a number of women who were also pregnant for the first time, and together we navigated the uncharted territory into motherhood. I was lucky enough to have been completely naive to any potential complications, lucky enough to enjoy that pregnancy. And lucky enough to have given birth [...]
A “rainbow baby” is a baby born after the loss of a previous pregnancy, infant, or child, shining hope through the storm clouds of grief over the loss of a baby that came before them. Rainbow baby Mamas are the courageous mothers who choose the hope of having a baby over the fear of another [...]
When I was pregnant with my first child, I quietly announced my pregnancy to my family, friends and co-workers. I also told my Kindergarten students and their parents. They were so sweet; baby gifts started trickling into the classroom with my students. The mother of one of my students gave me swaddle blankets, telling me [...]
Our family - Abby Alger Photography "Not that part. The dying part." That's what my three-year-old son said to me when I told him how much I love Oberon, his brother who died. Of course he doesn't mean to be hurtful, but it still stings. "What happened after he was born?" "Well, he [...]
The last of my miscarriages was years ago. So it was a surprise that many years and many kids later -- I discover just one more way infertility sucks, even when you beat it. As I lay down to nurse my toddler to sleep, I scroll absent-mindedly though Facebook, and up an article pops. "This [...]
It's been another amazing month in the Paul household. Noah continues to thrive in part-time special education preschool and continues to make gains in speech, occupational, and feeding therapy. While he sometimes gets frustrated that he cannot always quickly communicate his wants and needs to us, he is the sweetest, happiest, most good-natured child I have [...]
“Why do you worry so much?” My husband stated more than asked as I frantically made my way to my nightstand where I kept an extra thermometer and plunged it under my whimpering nine-month-old baby’s arm. When I came home from work I noticed him clutching the coffee table in the living room trying to [...]
