Pregnancy and Infant Loss

Being October means lots of different awarenesses month. We have breast cancer awareness, SIDs awareness, and pregnancy and infant loss awareness. This month is also national adoption month. More people than you might know or realize go through pregnancy and infant loss, and the month of October is time to make this taboo subject a bit more known. 

My situation is a bit different I feel like. The 2 miscarriages that I had to deal with were very early on. The first miscarriage was at 5 weeks back in 2004. The second was around 6 weeks at the beginning of June of 2016. They both hurt and stung, and we did grieve, but I felt like I was able to overcome these losses a lot quicker than some other women who are/were much farther along than I was.

According to Wikipedia, the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Movement began in the United States in 1987. On October 25, 1988, President Ronald Reagan designated the entire month of October 1988 as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. If you want to read more about it, you can by clicking here.

There are a few people that I follow on social media that has endured this pain. One lady lost their son around 22 or 23 weeks. There is a co-worker (as I have mentioned in previous blogs) that lost a set of triplets and twins almost near the end of the first trimester. There is another lady that I know that lost her little girl around 25 weeks I believe. Sadly, this list can go on. These women, even though they grieve in their own ways, are strong and brave.

We actually have a specific day set aside on October 15th, at 7pm (all time zones), to come together to light a candle, or even release lanterns and/or balloons, to honor the many babies that are soaring with Jesus. There are so many women/couples/families suffering in silence. By coming together to light the candles and raising awareness, helps those families that are grieving. 

Even though pain strikes us in all different ways, one thing is for sure. God cares, He hears our cries, and He is the one to see us through. God sent his only Son for us, who suffered far greater than we will ever know, think, or imagine. Even Paul, a disciple of Jesus, suffered greatly. When you look at our situations and the kind of suffering we are going through, it's nothing on what Jesus went through just for us. His love for us was so great that He chose to come to Earth and to die for us.

Regardless of your situation today, if you are grieving a loss of a child or pregnancy, know that you are not alone. Hard times are not fun to go through, and enduring heartache and pain should never be a thing but sadly it is. Let's ban together and show others love. You don't know what your neighbor, co-worker, sister, brother, niece, nephew, or friends might be going through (or maybe you do). Be sensitive during this time as they cope and lean on others for support and comfort.

I can't imagine losing either of my babies. I can't imagine being so far along in my pregnancy and losing our baby. Like I mentioned before, I feel like my miscarriages early on, though painful, were easier to bare than those much farther along. Please take a moment and hug someone today. You never know when that hug could really be of value to them.