The pain of miscarriage

Last night I read about my dear friend Augusta's miscarriage.  As sadness filled my heart I have thought what can I do?  What can I say?  How can I convey my love and concern for her, her husband, and her friend who donated a precious egg who are all mourning this loss?

I suppose I will simply write that my heart goes out to her and to all who had such hope and joy in the arrival of their child.  As I mourned this loss I returned to the age old question of:  Why?  To which I say, I don't know.  I only hope there will be people close to Augusta and her husband who can be sensitive and kind to them during this painful time in their life.

I did read a few articles from my church's website this morning about miscarriage, that helped me learn more about the pain it brings.  I also read an article about one woman's story of what she learned while bedridden during a pregnancy that ultimately resulted in a miscarriage.  I will add those links should anyone like to read them.

Easing the pain of miscarriage: How can you help when a loved one is suffering?
The unconfined heart: sometimes our struggles increase our ability to care

Augusta has such a big heart and has been a dear friend to me on my blog.  In fact, while she is mourning her loss, she still visited my blog to comment on a recent post about my little boy.  She is strong, compassionate, and kind.  I hope you will visit her blog and let her know you care about her.

A few addendums to the previous post

Some who have read my previous post about infertility and baby loss have gotten the wrong idea.  I no longer feel the pain or loss that can come with infertility.  This was resolved awhile ago.  My pain was no longer my inability to get pregnant and give birth to my child, my pain was not being able to have children come into my home who would consider me and call me their mom.  I realize that we are all in different places in our journey through infertility and growing our families.

Sure, it would be great to wake up and be pregnant, but I don't expect it, and don't feel sad that it doesn't happen.  I have embraced this new way of growing my family.  Will I pursue more infertility treatments in the future?  Who knows?  You never want to rule anything out in this game, but at this point, I have had my fill of the RE, stirrups, hormones, BFN, etc.

It is also important to note that adopting or having a child does not cure infertility.  Sometimes it still takes time to come to terms with the emotional and psychological pain infertility has caused.  And it is important to come to terms with it.  Thankfully, I feel that I have.  Writing in this blog, learning of your stories, and focusing on finding joy on a daily basis are just some of the ways that helped me to be able to do that.

But I don't feel like my body is broken.  No one has the ideal body.

Also, no one has the ideal family.  Realizing this helped me deal with and come to terms with the fact that my family size wasn't what I wanted it to be.

My ultimate goal has always been to be a mom and to have children in my home calling me mom.  It took time to come to this realization.  I had to come to terms with the fact that I wouldn't be pregnant or that I wouldn't hear my baby's heartbeat or find out his or her sex via an ultrasound at the doctor's office.  And I have embraced the perks that come with not being pregnant or going through labor.  I am thrilled that we were able to grow our family through adoption and I look forward to adopting more children.

And as far as people telling me how brave I was to go on FB...Yes, it was difficult to put myself out there.   And I still wonder if maybe I should delete it.  We'll see.  Not because what I feel has changed, but that maybe the people that read it there will also get the wrong idea about my feelings on infertility and our adoption.

And if I didn't have my little guy with me, I am pretty sure I would not have said anything unless I had already been brave enough to use the outlet of FB to get the word out that we were hoping to adopt.  There are a lot of insensitive people who say stupid things.  And whether or not you want every person you know on FB to know about such a tender and difficult trial you are experiencing is up to you.  We all know how difficult this journey is.  Sure, it would be easier if we all talked about it.  And it sure would be much easier if the general public knew how to better talk about pain, infertility and infant loss.

I just take one day at a time, one step at a time.

Facebook : Baby Loss Month post

I woke up at 3 am to feed my little guy and couldn't go back to sleep.  Around 5:30 I got tired of lying in bed and started putzing around the house. I messed around on the computer, fed the little guy (I think from here on out I will refer to him as LG), read, and then reflected on an idea that had been vaguely mulling around in my head.  And the following is the result.  I decided to write a little something on FB about infertility and baby loss.  I lumped infertility into it because, as infertiles, even though we have not physically lost a baby, we deal with the unrealistic, but yes, lost dream of having children at the drop of a hat.  I came out on FB, because, frankly, now it was easy.  It is now clearly evident, I think, that we had infertility issues and were blessed with a baby through the miracle of adoption.  We naturally keep the pain and diagnosis of infertility hidden, especially on FB, for various reasons which I won't go into at this time, but now, that my infertility is no longer hidden, I felt strongly about writing something about it, especially on FB.

So here is what I wrote and posted:

I don’t usually post things like this here, but I just wanted to, so I am.  It has been an exciting, crazy, busy, fun month, as many of you know.   But, as an infertile I would feel remised if I did not post something here on FB about October being Baby Loss Awareness month.  It is a month to remember all types of pregnancy loss and infant death including miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, etc.  So while you would have to live in a cave without any other human contact to not know that it was Breast Cancer Awareness month, (not knocking Breast Cancer Month), but you may not have known that is also Baby Loss Awareness Month.  And I am sure it is many other things month: like nephew appreciation month, Hispanic heritage month, etc.  I will let someone else speak about those causes.  The reason I am putting this on FB is because FB can be a cruel reminder to infertile people or those coping with infant loss of just how much we are missing out on.  Many infertile people comes to hate FB, because as I remember one fellow infertile said something to the effect of, “FB is like opening a Christmas card about someone else’s amazing life, only you have to do it 365 times a year”.  Not to make any of you feel bad, that’s just the reality of it.  So, for those who are infertile, I know your pain and I hope it will be relieved soon. 

So, I just wanted to tell all of those that have experienced an infant loss that I am heartbroken for you and your loss and I hope you can find peace and comfort in some way and in some time.  For those who have not experienced the pain of infertility or infant loss and sometimes wonder what you could say or do; well since I don’t have space to write a novel here, I would merely say, be sensitive, be compassionate, be understanding, and reach out and let them know you care.  

That’s all.  Thanks for reading.  

Loss

What does this word mean in the IF community?

It means the loss of hope, dreams, and peace.  For some it even means the loss of the life of their child.

Often these losses put us at a loss for understanding, and create a state of shock, or confusion.

In this community it seems there are always so many highs and lows of emotions.  Some people are finding out they are pregnant, others are experiencing a negative beta.  Some are adopting or giving birth, while others are miscarrying.  It is a cruel world sometimes.  You can see the breadth of it on the stirrup queens lost and found connections abound link 

We have all experienced loss to some degree, but at this time one of my sweet friends Rebecca has experienced an unimaginable loss.  Her beautiful baby girl Lillian Grace “left this world as quickly as she came” at 22 wks and 6 days.  Please let her know of your love for her during this difficult time in her life.