March: Pregnancy After Loss Awareness Month
Truly, we don’t need another awareness month. For anyone pregnant again after loss, it is a daily journey – and one that lasts for nine long months. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the heightened recognition for the joys and fears of loss moms and dads who continue to grow their family. I have been there. It is not easy. For me, those pregnancies were some of the most challenging times of my life. March Pregnancy After Loss Awareness Month I am grateful to have been interviewed for the Monica & Andy blog. Here is the article by Kristen Dold: Grieving One Child While Expecting Another: A Rainbow Baby Story After losing her newborn son Zachary in the hospital, Alexis Marie Chute entered what she calls her ‘year of distraction’—an attempt...
Read MoreResource Round-Up 2: Hazel’s Heroes
There are so many amazing and compassionate resources out there for bereaved families after their losses and as they become pregnant again. In this resource round-up, I will share some of the books, retreats, organizations and other supports that I feel are doing amazing work. Hazel’s Heroes are proud to offer weekend retreats for mothers who have lost a young child. Nestled in the quiet peace of the Rocky Mountains, grieving mothers can come together and focus on parenting the children who are no longer in their arms, but who will remain forever in their hearts. Hazel’s Heroes’ mission is to provide hope and understanding to all who attend. Our retreats provide a safe and supportive environment for mothers to heal a piece of their broken hearts, to honor their...
Read MoreResource Round-Up 1: Carry You With Me
There are so many amazing and compassionate resources out there for bereaved families after their losses and as the become pregnant again. In this resource round-up, I will share some of the books, retreats, organizations and other supports that I feel are doing amazing work. BOOK: Carry You With Me, picture book by Alanna Knobben Carry You With Me is a heartfelt story of a mother’s love, loss, healing and hope. Whimsical illustrations are brought to life with deeply rooted words and symbols. Together we remember the great loves we have lost and cherish all the ways we carry them with us forever. After the loss of her son, Marshall James, mother Alanna turned to paper and pen in her grieving and healing process. Letters to her son soon evolved into the writing of...
Read MoreInternational Bereaved Mother’s Day: Honoring our Birth Stories
Today we celebrate International Bereaved Mother’s Day. We honor precious children that have died and their Mothers whose love and bravery are to be respected and commended. The loss of a child is one of the most painful experiences a person can endure. At the same time, speaking for myself, I would never erase my pain. It is evidence of love. It speaks to the short but meaningful life of my first son, Zachary. Yes, my memories are tinged with sadness, but more so they are shrouded with love. Do you notice my theme here? LOVE Love is what binds us. Love sustains us. Love is the answer to the heart’s longings. Love is what keeps our loved ones alive. My Mom is a wise lady. I respect and admire her, as much as we butt heads many days. Mom always tells...
Read MoreHealing, But Not Whole
I am thrilled to welcome back to Wanted Chosen Planned Jenny Albers! She is graciously giving us what I might call PART 2 to her initial guest post about losing her baby, called “Grateful Despite the Grief” (click here to read it). I appreciate the vantage point Jenny takes when viewing life. With no further delay, here we go. Healing, But Not Whole Healed. A word that, according to Merriam-Webster, means to “make free from injury or disease: to make sound or whole.” After three years of missing my baby, Micah, I don’t believe I will ever be completely healed. My heart has a permanent injury, a hole that will never be filled. And our family is missing one, making wholeness an impossibility. But time has allowed for healing, although I...
Read MoreAdd Your Baby to the Celebrating Sweeties Page this Month
October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. It is an incredibly important time to celebrate and honor little lives gone too soon. Here on Wanted Chosen Planned, we have a very special way to remember babies and older children that have died. It is called Celebrating Sweeties and it is a place where children can be recognized by name, birth and death date and a picture if the parents have one and choose to share it. If you would like your child to be a part of Celebrating Sweeties, please send this information to Alexis Marie at info@alexismariechute.com I am honored to post a new photo to the Celebrating Sweeties page today – and since Wanted Chosen Planned and Expecting Sunshine are experiencing a butterfly takeover for the month of October, I...
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