October is National Infant and Pregnancy Loss Month. A time set aside by President Reagan to honor families whose babies have died and to provide resources.
Sarah Philpott wrote a phenomenal book that released this month. I had the privilege of reading the manuscript before it was released to the public. If you or someone you know has walked the road of pregnancy loss, in any capacity, I highly recommend this book as a tool, resource and guide to grief and ultimately, healing.
Not only is the book beautiful, it touches on so many areas of loss that are typically "hushed," such as questioning the why behind loss, permission to grieve and feel the weight of sadness, navigating depression and anxiety, words that hurt, sexual intimacy post loss, and how to untangle seeds of anger and jealousy.
"We shouldn't be ashamed of our emotions of anger, jealousy, and sadness. Instead we should cry out to the Lord and express our inner turmoil. This is a type of intimate, personal relationship that we were designed to have with God. Don't try to hide your emotions. Instead pour out your heart. He can handle it." - p. 47.
But not only does this book hit the hard topics, it encourages the reader to take hold of laughter, joy, and hope. Sarah encourages the reader to create rituals around their loved baby, honor their child's due date, choose joy over fear, and ultimately reframe the term "due date," from the day our baby should have been born, to our eternal, heavenly home. This brings such perspective and hope, as our babies might have lost time on earth but they are absolutely blooming in heaven.
Each chapter includes soul work and prayer time, which pushes the griever into a deeper place of reflection and healing. Scripture is scattered throughout the chapters as well. There is space for the reader to "write their story," by recording information and details about their precious baby in heaven. I love this so much and can attest that writing out details of my pregnancy with Chance and his birth and burial has brought immense hope and healing.
My family is humbled and honored that Sarah choose to include a bit of our story in Chapter 24: Honor the Due Date: Aloha to Heaven. After reading my post on social media I shared shortly after Chance's second birthday, Sarah asked permission to include this tidbit about our family in her book. I love how the title of the chapter reflects how we feel about our son and his life. He is living the dream, living the life, full of endless joy and eternal bliss, which as Camille (our 3 year old daughter) likes to say, is just like Hawaii. Our story is just one of many shared in Loved Baby.
In honor of National Infant and Pregnancy Loss month, Sarah's publisher gave me one copy of Loved Baby to give away to a reader. Simply comment on this post and a winner will be chosen at random and announced this Sunday, October 15th (National Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Day). If you have not experienced infant or pregnancy loss, please still consider entering the giveaway. This book is perfect to have on-hand for the future, when your friend or family member walks the road of loss.
To purchase a copy of Loved Baby, click here.
(Also, here is the link to the Loved Baby support group. Sarah founded this group three years ago and it is a safe place for women to share and seek and give support. I joined this group in 2015 when I lost Chance. In 2016, I was honored to join Sarah and several other amazing women as an administrator for the group. We work hard in making sure women feel safe & that their hearts are protected from the comments of trolls or people who don't really understand. You are welcome to join, to share the group, and to also bookmark it to recommend to others at a later date. We created it to be like a table--where women can communicate. We don't necessarily "lead" a lesson or do a study. We just want it to be a tribe of women organically sharing resources, prayers, and support.)
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
I would love to read this book. I just lost my first baby and my world is shook. Sending so much love to all the mamas dealing with this pain.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. I've lost 2 pregnancies this year and would love to read this book- so glad there are people speaking about pregnancy loss and providing resources for dealing with the grief.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. We've had 2 late losses in the last couple years and it's devastating. It's so important for others to be know they're not alone.
ReplyDeleteWe are going through a difficult loss now. Would love to read her book.
ReplyDeleteKaren, you won the book. Please send me your mailing address, thanks!!
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