National Pregnancy And Infant Loss Awareness Day

The blog has been silent for awhile, not because I lack things to say, but because I lack the time to write them! I have a lot of entries I want to write, and I even have some really exciting news to share (no, I am not pregnant), but I have been so incredibly busy that I just have not been able to keep up with the blog. I promise more is coming soon!

After I posted the breastfeeding blog entry, the blog absolutely blew up. I have had over two million hits since that entry went up, and let me tell you, I can (and probably will) write an entirely separate post on what happens when your blog goes viral. Oy.

But there are a couple of things I just couldn't let pass without talking about them here. First, my precious Jake and Eisley turned EIGHT years old today!!! How, how did that happen?!? It amazes me that it wasn't just last year that we sent their binkies off into the sky on their second birthday! It has truly flown by so quickly, but I am so blessed to have spent each moment I have with them. Happy birthday Jake and Eisley! I will post their "birthday letters" sometime next week.

Second, if you didn't already know, tomorrow is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. Actually, the entire month of October is dedicated to Pregnancy and Infant Loss (though I believe we share the month with Down Syndrome Awareness and Breast Cancer Awareness).

Ever since the loss of my first pregnancy a few years ago, October has been a bittersweet month for me. I am so blessed to celebrate the babies I am loving and raising here on earth, while also missing the ones I love from a distance and miss every day. To be perfectly honest, every single day of my life is like that, but in October, the world misses them with me...

Since I didn't have the opportunity to write a new post on this special day and month that we honor the men and women who are grieving the children they have lost, I wanted to invite you to read what I posted last year. I hope you take the opportunity to read it and re-post it and honor this special day with us.

You can read the entry here...

http://ouradoptionfaithwalk.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-it-matters-to-have-day-of.html

I would also like to ask for one more thing.

One in four women have experienced pregnancy loss. One in four. Do you know four women? Then chances are, you know and love someone who has lost a baby. They might not grieve openly, or publicly, but I assure you, they do grieve. You might not even know about their loss, but I can say with certainty that everyone who is reading this knows and loves a woman who has experienced pregnancy loss. So with that being said, would you take this opportunity to openly acknowledge their loss?

How can you do that? I will leave that up to you. But I do want to encourage you that nothing you do to honor the loss your loved one has experienced will "open old wounds" or "remind them" of something sad they've forgotten. All it will do is remind them that they are loved, that their loss was real, that it was valid, and that it mattered.

So here I go...this is my open acknowledgement of the losses of my loved ones. These are the women, whom I love, who have grieved the loss of their baby or babies.

I love you. I'm so sorry we are in this club together that no one wants to join. One day, I will rejoice with you as we meet and gush over the children we are reunited with in heaven. What an awesome playgroup that will be...

Becky
Ashley
Rachel
Tamara
Shayla
Evelyn
Jessica
Karen
Gayle
Sue
Laren
Andrea
Traci
Elizabeth
Gigi
Linda
Meredith
Wendie
Alicia


And to the women I know and love who have never shared their experience with me, consider your name up there as well.

Your baby mattered. Your loss matters. And I remember with you...

For my own sweet babies, whom I carried for such a short time...I remember you, and I deeply feel your loss. I remember you, and I miss you.

Gracie, I miss you. You would have looked like Eisley, and wanted to be just like her. You were so wanted. You were our deepest hurt because we never, ever expected to lose you. You taught us to cherish every moment, and we still do.

Lily, my heart literally aches for you at times. You stole and broke our hearts the moment we laid eyes on you. You looked like Jake, and had perfect little feet, and that's all I will ever know about you, until I see you again. I miss you the most because I know what it was like to hold you, to know you, to realize what I was losing. I miss you. I miss you.

To my last little one...the one I barely had the chance to know about. You are no less loved, no less remembered. You will be the biggest surprise to us someday because you are the one we knew the least about. If I had to guess, I'd say you were a boy. Jake and Eisley call you "James". I never knew what to call you, because I blinked, and you were gone. I can't wait to meet you...

Thank you for remembering with me, and for honoring the losses of the smallest of blessings.