Our Angel Prince David

Told by: Giselle

Oct. 31, 2011 – Dec. 19th, 2011
My husband, David and I, had been married for almost 4 years, since October 19th, 2007 during this time. We had been trying to conceive  since 2008.
We had a twin miscarriage on December 17th, 2008 after praying for twins.
We miscarried the first one around 3-4 weeks and the 2nd one at 8 weeks gestation. I opted not to have a D&C and allow my body to process naturally and my body did exactly 2 weeks from the last ultrasound. I went through a lot of grief between the doctors not wanting me to miscarry naturally and then with the pathologist personnel when I went to pick up my twins remains.
We then waited about 2 years to TTC again, I went through a terrible bout of depression of not wanting to let go of my babies. I finally had a breakthrough and we finalized the funeral services. I found that once we did the services and I was able to let go through the physical that I was mentally able to move forward with life.
By the end of 2010 I was able to start thinking about TTC again. We started TTC in January and became frustrated with negative tests and charting month after month. In May of 2011 we went to a Church Conference in Chicago, Illinois. On the first night of the conference, while I was praying and speaking to the LORD during the service, I said to the LORD, if I was pregnant to please have that preacher come over to me and tell me that I’m expecting because Lord I am sooo tired of negative after negative testing, and I need to know right now. Well the preacher came over to me while my eyes were closed and put his hands on my shoulder, and at that moment I was stunned and knew what he was going to say. He said You have been praying for a miracle and GOD is going to bless you!
Right then and there I jumped for joy and screamed my heart out and told my husband we are pregnant! The next day we ran to Dollar General and bought a pregnancy test and it surely came out positive!   While in Chicago, I also got the opportunity to meet one of my long time  Doula friends from facebook, Tricia F. I was ecstatic!  I told her what happened and she was excited with us! She even was sweet enough to bring me to the pregnancy clinic to get the test in writing. She also took us around Chicago to Trader Joe’s and also Cutie Poops and Bottoms! We had a blast with her and her fabulous family!
When we got back home from Chicago we started picking out hospitals and started going to appointments. The dating tests from the hospitals didn’t line up with our gestation dates from the start and that was even with charting, so we were stressed. There was at least 5-8 weeks in discretion. He measured small from the start.
Finally about 22 weeks were told he had marginal cord insertion and that was the reason why he was so measuring small. I researched and contacted a trusted friend of mine on FB that is very knowledgeable who basically told me it was nothing to worry about other than the baby will be small because of the position of the cord on the placenta. I usually have small babies anyway so I wasn’t too worried about having a small baby.
Well I ended up going into labor at around 32 weeks. After 3 days of labor and praying that he not be born on Oct. 31st, 2013, Our LiL Prince David was born on that day at 10:04pm barely 2 hours shy of midnight!
He was born crying and pink. He was soo cute and very strong. I still can’t believe he passed away.  It boggles my mind beccause he had a 9 on his apgar score. They couldn’t get in to his nose because he was soo tiny but his lungs were strong enough for him to blow out his own mucus.
That was the first and the last time we heard him cry!
He lived for exactly 7 weeks and he fought to live the entire time. We fought for him, trying to get doctors to give him my breastmilk and for them to use other drugs and other methods but all of our desires, ideas, and thoughts were thrown out of the window. I never felt sooo incapacitated in my whole life. I could not do anything for my child. I felt as if I had failed him. The doctors would not listen to us and it just seemed as if he was being killed slowly right before our very eyes. All of our dreams for our precious baby boy were being thrown out of the window.
I didn’t know what else to do. We prayed, sought counsel, tried to find a patient advocate, tried to get him transferred to another hospital but nothing. I kept envisioning myself within a shack in the midst of a terrible rain and thunderstorm with lots of lightening going around and strong gusts of wind. I knew I was safe as long as I stayed within the shack but I kept looking out the window at the storm and wondering when it would ever be over. I kept feeling the desire to be in both places in the storm; with my son or to stay inside out of the way of the storm and just watch my son from the window.  It was such a battle for me. I kept praying because I wanted my son no matter what.
He ended up having kidney failure and swelling up like a balloon.  He got soo big in the end he looked like he was going to burst.  I was scared for what he was feeling my poor lil helpless guy.  I was soo tormented watching him go through this and just kept asking GOD why LORD, he is a baby, my baby! I put my hands under him since I could not carry him, one under his head and the other under his bottom (we never got to carry him until he passed away) and said:
 LORD whatever Your will is may Your will be done..not my will oh LORD but Your will be done. This is my son my love my heart my ultimate sacrifice my all is on the alter for You may Your will be done. My will is that he lives and not perish. Here is my Isaac.
I kissed him and hugged him, that was the last day I saw his eyes open. He swelled even more until his eyes were swollen closed shut and he passed away 3 days later. The last night he lived me and my hubby sang to him consistently all night long, praising GOD all night long. His stats were the highest they had been in a while he seemed peaceful as long as my hubby sang to him.
When he passed later that day we had just stepped out of the room to go get something to eat but we never made it past the lounge area and got called back to the room. When we got there he was gone and the machines were off. I finally got to hold my lil angel, not the way I wanted to. He fought the good long fight and he was in Heaven with Our LORD and Savior!  At least we know we will see him again some day very soon!
Atleast we know we will see him again some day very soon! In the meantime I will continue to tell his story and help others through the ministry that was birthed through him, With These Hands Ministries and our FaceBook page.
We also had so much breastmilk left over from me pumping for him and I did not want it to go to waste So I donated over 350 ounces to The Human Milk Bank of North Texas (HMBONT) It went to a family in need right away. In the collage below is a tree they created to honor the family’s of Angel’s whose milk was donated in their honor. The memorial  tree is called Carmens Tree located in Austin, Texas. Our little prince has his own leaf on the tree (pictured below). I am soo glad that we were able to help someone in his honor!
His legacy will live on through me, his father, his big brother Gabriel and now through his rainbow sister as well. Our rainbow, AimeeRose Grace was born on August 20, 2012! AMEN!
 I will seek unto God, and unto God will I commit my cause.

JOB 5:8

Rebecca Kubenk, SBD

Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula® serving Adelaide, Australia

email: RebeccaKubenk.SBD@stillbirthday.info

 

Rebecca Kubenk IBCLC CD  SBD CPES

Rebecca KubenkI am a mother of five, three singletons and twins.

My Angel Baby, my second child, was miscarried at twenty weeks gestation.

After the loss of my baby, it took a long time to conceive again both physically and emotionally, with the help of IVF I conceived twins, followed by a naturally conceived singleton.

I began working as a Breastfeeding Counsellor in 2004, with the ABA, after the birth of my fifth child. I went on to become an IBCLC in 2009, assisting mothers in the fourth trimester with breastfeeding and guiding them through decisions after a perinatal loss.

In 2011, I completed a Certificate IV in Doula Services working as a Certified Doula.  Meeting several mothers who had also endured a perinatal loss led me to Stillbirthday.

Stillbirthday has provided me with the opportunity to make caring for families more official, and furthered my education on the needs of bereaved families.

I welcome the opportunity to donate my time to support families who are expecting a loss or who have experienced an unexpected loss at any point in their pregnancy.

 

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Jessica Dube, SBD

Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula® serving Wyoming

email: JessicaDube.SBD@stillbirthday.info

website

Certified in Psychological First Aid

JessJessica is located in Sheridan Wyoming and is a married Mother of four. She has three living children, and one angel baby born at 20 weeks gestation. It is because of her own experiences that she is drawn to Doula work. She became a mother at the tender age of 17 and suffered her loss at age 20. She grew up in a broken family and has worked hard to build a good foundation for her own family.
Jessica has spent over ten years learning about the ways to support mothers and the different supports there are available. She strongly believes that all mothers deserve support and looks forward to doing so in her small community. She is versed in multiple religions and practices and is always looking to broaden her knowledge. She works with families of all kinds and aims to break the silence for all parents of loss.
Jessica is the owner of Blessings in the Belly and offers physical support in the Sheridan Wyoming area, and also offers online and phone support all over the world. She enjoys the simple things in life and spends her spare time with her children and husband enjoying all that Wyoming has to offer, and making her own all natural cleaning supplies and soaps.
Jessica offers special services to teen mothers and mothers facing a difficult diagnosis and or a pregnancy loss. She believes all pregnancy is beautiful and all labor and delivery can be as well no matter the outcome.

 

 

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Toby Shuler, SBD

Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula® serving Louisiana

email: TobyShuler.SBD@stillbirthday.info

 

 

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A Warm Farewell

It is with a heavy heart but with a great anticipation that stillbirthday has accepted Angie Chelton’s official resignation from her role here at stillbirthday as a co-teacher for our doula training.

While Angelique is no long affiliated with stillbirthday, we are reminded of the enormity of pregnancy and infant loss, and the vast and expanding baby loss bereaved community.

While stillbirthday will remain steadfast in being the most accessible, most affordable, most trusted, most comprehensive training to prepare the strongest birth & bereavement doulas possible, we embrace the multiple ways, platforms, and opportunities to shape the minds and hearts of those willing to step into the difficult role of birth & bereavement support, and we recognize that Angie’s decision to provide her services under her own name may be just the right way, just the right program to reach a willing heart who would otherwise not be prepared to follow through with the call to such a role, and we do applaud her for her passion to equip professionals serving the bereaved community.  This desire is needed.  We are just as surprised as you are by the swiftness of this decision, and we would have loved to have prepared our community for more of a gradual departure, but we are confidently hopeful that her role here at stillbirthday and her exposure to the wealth of information, resources and experiences poured into our community and training has equipped her with the strong foundation of knowledgeable support she will need in her new independent role and that it will show in the love she has to bring and the integrity we hope she demonstrates through her services now and in the future.

 

 

 

 

This Impossible Time

Michael Matters

Told by: Shanelle

I lost my 15 week old fetus on February 2nd 2013. The entire pregnancy was very rough on me. I got pregnant 3 months after I had my son via C-Section so I already knew that it may be a touch and go pregnancy.

I started spotting about week 9 and went to the ER and saw that the baby was just fine. They told me that the bleeding was due to my uterus. I was told to be on bed rest but with 2 kids(4 months and 6) that was next to impossible.

I continued to spot here and there and on February 2nd, I woke up feeling off.

I laid down on the couch after talking to my boyfriend. He was out of town and couldn’t be with me. I got up and pored blood. I had to call 911 and I was so scared. At the ER they did an ultrasound and saw that the baby was doing great. They were going to let me go home but I told them I was having pain as well as still bleeding. They moved me to a medical/surgical recovery room and left me there.

I knew I was in labor.

I begged and pleaded with the nurses to give me something to stop my labor but they told me they couldn’t. I went through this all alone because my boyfriend was gone and my mom had to watch my kids. I had the baby at 11pm and they just left him there in between my legs. I looked at this perfect baby and felt so much love and so much sadness at the same time.

The doctor cam in right after and had to take me very quickly to the operating room to do a D&C to stop the hemorrhaging. I got out of the OR and felt so empty. My boyfriend came right after and we just held each other. We named the baby MICHAEL and we wanted to take him home.

The hospital would not give the baby to us because he was not 24 week gestation. We got a funeral home to pick up our baby and we had our little boy cremated. I made him a little place in my room and he is there till this day. This experience was one of the worst in my life and I still think about my lil baby boy every day.

Megan McFarland, SBD

Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula® serving Kansas City, Missouri

SBD Chaplain

email: thebeautyoftheirtinywings@gmail.com

email: meganmcfarland.sbd@stillbirthday.info

Certified in Psychological First Aid

MeganI am a mother of 5 beautiful children – 1 boy, 2 girls and 2 Angels. I lost my first baby to miscarriage and my 3rd baby to miscarriage as well at 12 weeks.  At this point in my life is when I knew that this is what I wanted to do – to be there for other women who have and who are going through such pain as losing a child. I felt so lost and alone and I don’t want any woman to feel that way because you are not alone.

 

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The Thought of the Treat

Last year we shared about a mother attaching a little paper note to her candies as a message to reach other mothers at Halloween.

Halloween is in October, still Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, and instead of being a day that seems to be absent of this awareness, there are ways that we can still bring awareness into the festivities.

Consider the meaning of the candies you choose for your neighborhood trick-or-treaters, and you can bring intention to your gift, without even having to explain it.  It can be just a quiet little way that you stand at the threshold of remembering while still engaging in festivities that otherwise could be more challenging to you.

Or, after Halloween is over, could any of these candies you find from others, possibly, be a tiny gift holding a message of encouragement to you?

 

Here’s a few ideas:

Kisses – sending kisses to your baby

Hugs – embracing childhood joy

Baby Ruth – baby

Dove chocolates – symbol of dove

Galaxy, Sky bar, Milky Way – the distance of your love

Life Savers – because more awareness can also mean more prevention & because you would if you could

Almond Joy, Snickers or Hershey’s Bliss – happiness and laughter can still be attainable even in darkness and grief

Skittles – rainbow

dark, extra dark chocolate – this journey can be dark but we can discover sweetness

pure dark, special dark – describe your baby as pure and special

Princessa – to describe your baby

SweetTarts, or other “bittersweet” candy – marking the mix of feelings of your journey

Sugar Daddy – perhaps to honor your spouse

U-NO bar – you know your intention, even if it’s subtle

York, or anything peppermint – to remind you of snow, perhaps the magic of snowflakes

Zero bar – zeroes count, a pregnancy loss is still a birthday

Taffy – this journey can be messy

Suckers – something to hold onto

Gummy – our feelings can gnaw

Jawbreakers, Rock candy – this journey can be hard 

Gum – breathing, stretching, growing

M&Ms – maybe “mothering my mourning” as in, this journey is a difficult one, but I am learning to give my grief both the permission and discipline that it needs 

 

 

 

 

So, what about you?  Do you have a candy to add to the list?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This list in no way endorses a certain candy or company brand; it’s just intended to allow us to get creative and encourage us that we can find special ways to participate in Halloween if we choose to.

 

When Mother Earth is Pregnant

It is just profound, the similarities between a person embedded within the womb and a person buried in the earth.

This amazing piece is called “Healing Sleep”.

Which does this represent to you?

 

 

{photo source}

The SBD® Doula provides support to families experiencing birth in any trimester and in any outcome.

Here at stillbirthday.info, you can learn about the SBD® Doula.