247 results for search: pregnancy after loss

Ask the Blog Team: How Did You Handle the Challenges that Come With Pregnancy After Loss?

Welcome to our Q+A series, Ask the Blog Team. In this series, the Hope Mommies blog team joins together to answer questions that are commonly asked in grief. If there is a question or topic that you have wrestled with in your grief that you would like the opportunity to see how other Hope Moms have processed or answered, we would love to hear from you. You can submit your questions here. I recently found out I was pregnant after many years of trying after loss. We are elated, but I find myself slightly guarded as well. Each time a fearful thought creeps in I’m trying to turn it over immediately to Jesus in prayer. I’m also working on ...

Pregnancy After Loss

Each child gone ahead from among us is a precious person made in the image of God—and all having been made into Hope Moms, we together declare motherhood in each of our journeys. Through this series, we honor each other’s experiences of motherhood in love through our shared God of hope. I remember so clearly standing at the end of my driveway the day a friend stopped by to drop something off to me. We chitchatted for a bit, and then she asked me what I was doing that day.  “Just going to pop into the OB’s office to hear the heartbeat.” “Oh, Shelly! You shouldn’t be so fearful. You need to have faith,” she ...

Joy Rising in Pregnancy After Loss

Sometimes I wake up and feel the stillness, I wonder if I’m empty again. I wait, trying just to breath when everything feels too quiet. And then I feel her. She moves so deep within me. That pulse inside—the universe shifts—I feel her intertwined with my body and blood, nestled deep inside, everything that I am is protecting her. And yet I am completely out of control, this seed growing and growing takes no thought from myself. I don’t knit her together. I don’t form her blinking eyes, curling fingers or kicking feet. Yahweh does—the One who has always been the Creator and always will be. She is a seed I pressed down eager and hopeful ...

The First Pregnancy Announcement I Received After Loss

I’ve often compared my grief to an infant who needs full attention and love to survive. Friends often extend immense grace to us in our grief as they did in my case, but eventually, the attention naturally dwindles as our grief continues. It isn’t because our friends are bad friends who have forgotten about our pain. This world just keeps moving forward and sweeps us right along with it. Life goes on, and naturally other babies enter the story—babies who live and are healthy. This was one of the most difficult parts of my early grief process, but also one of the most healing and redemptive. I still to this day feel terrible for the close ...

Sustained Through Loss

"It doesn't get any easier, does it?" You meet kindred spirits in some of the strangest places sometimes. As I nervously stood in line at my local drugstore I dreaded what I was about to do. I knew I needed the medicine in order to have some form of closure and to complete the miscarriage, but something felt so wrong about it all. Deep within my soul I wanted to scream to all who were around me: "I'm not having an abortion. I promise. I was pregnant. I wanted this baby!" Thankfully I didn't have to. But that didn't make the situation any less uncomfortable for me. As the pharmacist asked me the obligatory "are you pregnant?" (which is apparently ...

Ask the Blog Team: What Did You Wrestle With God About During the Early Days After Your Baby Died?

Welcome to our Q+A series, Ask the Blog Team. In this series, the Hope Mommies blog team joins together to answer questions that are commonly asked in grief. If there is a question or topic that you have wrestled with in your grief that you would like the opportunity to see how other Hope Moms have processed or answered, we would love to hear from you. You can submit your questions here. I had supernatural peace in the early days about what was to come and what happened after Anna passed. My questions were more related to "what's next?" Don't worry, the other questions came eventually, but early on while still experiencing immense grief, I ...

Ask the Blog Team: How Did You Handle Invitations to Birthday Parties or Baby Showers After Loss?

Welcome to our Q+A series, Ask the Blog Team. In this series, the Hope Mommies blog team joins together to answer questions that are commonly asked in grief. If there is a question or topic that you have wrestled with in your grief that you would like the opportunity to see how other Hope Moms have processed or answered, we would love to hear from you. You can submit your questions here. “Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” -Romans 12:5About five months after my daughter Ginny was stillborn, one of my best friends invited me to her baby shower. I knew my friend would not be offended if I didn’t go, but she was ...

Ask the Blog Team: For those who had an early loss, do you ever struggle with feeling like your grief is “less valid” than others’?

Welcome to our Q+A series, Ask the Blog Team. In this series, the Hope Mommies blog team joins together to answer questions that are commonly asked in grief. If there is a question or topic that you have wrestled with in your grief that you would like the opportunity to see how other Hope Moms have processed or answered, we would love to hear from you. You can submit your questions here. Anna was born prematurely at 17 weeks due to my cervix failing, so my situation was unique; she did not die in utero. We delivered in the hospital and were able to hold her and take pictures, so I feel as though I relate more to women who have experienced loss ...

My First Baby Shower Invitation After Loss

When I was little, one of my favorite things was receiving mail. Whether it was a birthday card, a magazine, or a dentist appointment reminder, it thrilled me to see my name in print. The absolute best, though, was a party invitation. That signified that I had been chosen to partake in a day of fun. I would proudly hang the invitation on the refrigerator with a magnet and count down the days until the party. Even now, I still love being invited to share in someone’s special day. I am usually always ready for a celebration. It feels wonderful to be included in those significant moments. But that wasn’t the case with this particular invitatio...

Trying to Conceive After Loss

Each child gone ahead from among us is a precious person made in the image of God—and all having been made into Hope Moms, we together declare motherhood in each of our journeys. Through this series, we honor each other’s experiences of motherhood in love through our shared God of hope. “Hasten to answer me, Lord; for my spirit fails me. Do not hide your face from me, lest I become like those descending to the pit. In the morning let me hear of your mercy, for in you I trust. Show me the path I should walk, for I entrust my life to you.” Psalm 143:7-8 Trust. Such a simple word, and yet such a complex process. The journey of ...