Having a Baby after Losing a Baby – 39 Weeks

I recently made a friend who had a stillborn baby not long ago. When we first met I was worried as I was very obviously pregnant. Instead of recoiling in disappointment, which would have been a very natural reaction, my new friend told me that my pregnancy was actually an encouragement for her. The fact that a woman can go on from losing a child to having a healthy pregnancy and baby is heartening and something she hopes for herself as well. I was surprised at this graceful and optimistic perspective and thus hope I can share here on Wanted, Chosen, Planned about my current pregnancy without causing pain for anyone who reads. I am 39 weeks pregnant and I had an epiphany the other day about the length of gestation as it relates to us who have lost a child: It is a...

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My Story of Loss and the Death of a Normal Life

I was an ordinary person with the usual aspirations: go to school, find a career I am passionate about, marry the love of my life, have babies, make a difference in the world and live happily ever after. That doesn’t sound like too much to ask, does it? I could see it all coming together; it was simply a matter of time. In 2010, my list looked like this: School – check! Career – check! Husband – check! Babies – um… My husband and I had a beautiful baby girl in 2009 and I loved every part of motherhood (this was post-breastfeeding woes and also pre-terrible two’s). Our daughter Hannah was only a few months old when I declared to my hubby, “Let’s make another one!” I felt like a pro at the beginning of my second pregnancy, ‘I am a good baby-maker’ I...

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