Skip to content
Pregnancy After Loss Support Logo Pregnancy After Loss Support Logo Pregnancy After Loss Support Logo
  • Find Support
    • Online Support Groups
      • Apply to Join the Pregnancy after TFMR Support Group
    • Find Local Support
    • Emergency & Other Support
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to Give
      • Donate
      • What Would I Give 2019 Holiday Campaign
      • Shop Our Favorite Things
    • Volunteer at PALS
      • Volunteer Application
    • Spread Awareness
      • PAL Awareness Information Graphics
      • Pregnancy, Infant, and Child Loss Awareness Month – Know Our Babies
        • I Carry You In My Heart – PAIL Awareness Month
        • Know Our Babies – Submit Your Story
    • PALS Ambassadors
      • Providers Are Our PALS
    • Share Your Story
  • Magazine
    • Reader Favorites
    • Pregnancy
      • Trying to Conceive
      • Pregnancy after TFMR
      • Physical Health
      • Emotional Health
      • From Providers
    • Bump Day Blog
    • Birth
      • Rainbow Birth Stories
    • Recurrent Loss
    • Parenting After Loss
      • The First Year
    • Adoption after Loss
    • For Dads
    • For Friends & Family
    • For Providers
    • Columns & Special Series
      • Tips from PAL Moms
      • Courageous Mama
      • Love Letters
    • Book Reviews
    • Share Your Story
  • For Providers
    • Research
  • About Us
    • Mission
      • Courageous Mama Values
    • Board of Directors
    • Financials
    • Staff & Volunteers
    • Programs
      • Online Support Groups
      • PALS Meet-Ups
      • PALS Ambassadors
    • Find PALS
    • Policies
    • Contact
  • Donate
  • Find Support
    • Online Support Groups
      • Apply to Join the Pregnancy after TFMR Support Group
    • Find Local Support
    • Emergency & Other Support
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to Give
      • Donate
      • What Would I Give 2019 Holiday Campaign
      • Shop Our Favorite Things
    • Volunteer at PALS
      • Volunteer Application
    • Spread Awareness
      • PAL Awareness Information Graphics
      • Pregnancy, Infant, and Child Loss Awareness Month – Know Our Babies
        • I Carry You In My Heart – PAIL Awareness Month
        • Know Our Babies – Submit Your Story
    • PALS Ambassadors
      • Providers Are Our PALS
    • Share Your Story
  • Magazine
    • Reader Favorites
    • Pregnancy
      • Trying to Conceive
      • Pregnancy after TFMR
      • Physical Health
      • Emotional Health
      • From Providers
    • Bump Day Blog
    • Birth
      • Rainbow Birth Stories
    • Recurrent Loss
    • Parenting After Loss
      • The First Year
    • Adoption after Loss
    • For Dads
    • For Friends & Family
    • For Providers
    • Columns & Special Series
      • Tips from PAL Moms
      • Courageous Mama
      • Love Letters
    • Book Reviews
    • Share Your Story
  • For Providers
    • Research
  • About Us
    • Mission
      • Courageous Mama Values
    • Board of Directors
    • Financials
    • Staff & Volunteers
    • Programs
      • Online Support Groups
      • PALS Meet-Ups
      • PALS Ambassadors
    • Find PALS
    • Policies
    • Contact
  • Donate
  • The Importance of Family in Pregnancy After Loss

The Importance of Family in Pregnancy After Loss

By Erin Kuhn-Krueger|2017-01-10T12:56:13-05:00January 10th, 2017|

  • What Makes a Family?

What Makes a Family?

By Erin Kuhn-Krueger|2016-12-13T10:20:17-05:00December 13th, 2016|

  • The Joy and Wonder of Parenting after Pregnancy Loss

The Joy and Wonder of Parenting after Pregnancy Loss

By Erin Kuhn-Krueger|2016-10-13T17:07:35-04:00September 13th, 2016|

  • Finding Perspective: The Adoption Home Study

Finding Perspective: The Adoption Home Study

By Erin Kuhn-Krueger|2016-10-13T17:08:08-04:00July 12th, 2016|

  • hands - You Can Always Adopt

    “Don’t worry, you can always adopt” – Exploring adoption after pregnancy loss

“Don’t worry, you can always adopt” – Exploring adoption after pregnancy loss

By Erin Kuhn-Krueger|2019-11-13T13:14:22-05:00August 11th, 2015|

Previous12

Looking for something?

Get your pregnancy after loss affirmations printable!

Looking for a little extra support during your pregnancy after loss? Download our printable pregnancy after loss affirmations to hang around your home as reminders that you’re a courageous mama, and you can get through your pregnancy after loss.

SUBSCRIBE

I want to…

Learn More
Get Support
Volunteer
Donate

Instagram post 2198900917495825705_1698444785 #repost via @healthfullymarried
・・・
3 Truths About Carrying a Rainbow Baby 🌈
.
One year ago today we sat in the genetics department anxiously waiting for Matteo’s NIPT tests. It’s weird to think less than a year ago I was carrying a different life. Another spirit.
.
Although the biggest emotion we feel is joy, gratitude and excitement for our #rainbowbaby, there are many other triggers and fears you carry.
.
1️⃣ Nightmares - I can’t begin to tell you the number of times during this pregnancy I’ve dreamt of myself delivering another stillborn baby. I know when I wake up it’s just a bad dream but it doesn’t make it easier.
.
2️⃣ Flashbacks - They’re often triggered by simple things we’re doing to prepare for the baby. Last weekend I began packing my hospital bag. Brandon was out and I began crying remembering the last time we did this we were preparing to deliver a baby we would not take home. There are definitely some memories we wish we could change.
.
3️⃣ Mourning - it was only 11 months ago we held our tiny little 17 week, 8 inch baby. In life, you move on but you definitely never forget.
.
Despite all the fear and worry, we’ve learned hard times do pass. SO MUCH can change in a year and as long as you don’t lose hope, those brighter days will come.
.
We’ve connected with many couples who have experienced the same feelings and triggers but it’s not spoken about enough.
.
To all the couples carrying their rainbow baby or still waiting for their baby to make their way to them, we know the emotional and physical struggles. We’re here for you ❤️
Instagram post 2197425017197546504_1698444785 THIS! ! ! #repost via @stacey.skrysak
・・・
It may make some people uncomfortable. It may even make you cringe. But I will never stop talking about my children who died. 1 in 4 couples experience a form of child loss. And chances are you know someone who has. So, it’s comments like this one that make me sad…Sad that so many parents feel they need to tip toe around the topic, wondering who they might offend when they share their heartbreak.
…..
I posted a picture of my surviving triplet, sharing what it was like to hold her for the first time in the NICU. Yet, this woman wasn’t interested in my precious moment.
…..
“Here we go again. Please feel blessed and happy with the two that you have here with you.”
…..
I actually read the comment several times, trying to process what I saw on my screen. I usually take the high road with what I like to call “internet trolls”, but for some reason, my heart was hurting and I responded.
…..
Here’s the thing—parents who have experienced a devastating loss shouldn’t have to explain ourselves. We shouldn’t have to justify why we are talking about our children. Just because they are no longer alive, doesn’t make them any less of a child.
…..
As I look at my surviving triplet and our precious new baby, I am so grateful for my living children. I truly feel like my life is so blessed and I’m the happiest I’ve been in years. But that doesn’t take away the grief and the heartache I have felt in the past 6+ years. You never get over the loss of a child. The grief changes over time, but there is always a piece of your heart missing.
…..
What you see on social media is only a snippet of life. When parents like me share our sadness, it doesn’t mean that our lives revolve around loss. Grief and happiness can coexist.
…..
Our society has come a long way in making child loss less taboo, but I think I speak for many other parents when I say—we still have a long way to go. Even though two of my children are not here physically, they will always be present in my life.
Instagram post 2196226607824144174_1698444785 #repost via @shellymettling
・・・
Pregnancy after loss is STILL scary after having a Rainbow but I must say one thing thing that feels different is the pressure.

Before having Rye And struggling with loss after loss after loss I put this unwanted pressure on myself.

Was I ever going to have my own child (genetically)? Was I ever going to be able to carry to full term?

Was I putting myself through all of this loss for a one day rainbow outcome?

There were so many questions. So many unknowns. So many what ifs. And all you can do is KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE!

And although those questions are still there just in a different way the pressure seems to be less during this pregnancy, which is a so nice!

Does this rant even make sense? Lol

Has anyone else put that pressure on themselves after loss? Did anyone else feel a release of that pressure after having their rainbow? 📸 @alexandrarobynphoto

_ _ _ _
#mybabydoesntneedatriggerwarning
#notatriggerwarning
#FactsAboutPAL
#PALSupport
#PALAwareness
#courageousmama
#livingafterloss
#pregnancyafterlosssupport
#angelmomssticktogether
#angelmom
#lifeafterloss
#parentingafterloss
#TFMR
#donotlosehope
#rainbowsaremagical
#rainbowbaby
#rainbowpregnancy
#ivfbabys
#miscarriageawareness
#pregnancyafterloss
#1in4
#1in160
#stillbornstillloved
#carryingtoterm
#lifelimitingdiagnosis
Instagram post 2195355890118768961_1698444785 This holiday season, we're asking our courageous mamas, "What would you give?" Meet courageous mama Ashley Rose Salvitti. Ashley wrote to tell us about her sweet girl, Lena, and to answer #WhatWouldIGive:

I'm missing my daughter Lena Franklyn so much during this holiday season. Last Christmas we were planning on having the gift of a new baby girl into our home, a baby sister for our daughter Jadyn Rose and the perfect addition to our family.

But things didn't go as planned. She was due 12/13/18, but was stillborn on 9/29/18. So, when the holidays rolled around it was really tough for our family. My awesome sister organized a GoFundMe so we could go back east for the holidays - to switch things up and be around my family.

To remember and honor Lena, we made angel ornaments for everyone. My mother-in-law hand-sewed her a beautiful stocking (to match the other three we already had) and put a beautiful handwritten note to her inside. We read it aloud on Christmas. A friend made me beautiful rings with both my daughters names. On her 1st Angel birthday we planted a lily garden for her, and I'm looking forward to the spring when those flowers start to bloom and we can see her garden transform through the years and grow, with our memory of her.

We talk to Jadyn about her angel sister in heaven who watches over her. We read books about her, and almost everyday we say, "Hi, Lena," when the wind chime in her room sings for us.

I got pregnant immediately after Christmas last year and that pregnancy was a nightmare from the start. The feelings of happiness, joy and love were replaced by anxiety, fear and uncertainty, the unknown drove me crazy. I ended up miscarrying that pregnancy at 11 weeks. Being pregnant after having a loss is a totally different ballgame. You know what can happen and you prepare for it by keeping your guard up, trying not to be happy for the fear of disappointment when you hear your baby is gone.

Continued in comments.
Instagram post 2193189420979405334_1698444785 Beautifully said mama.

#repost via @vineandlight
・・・
Benjamin Otto Jackson.
.
I can promise you that you’re life will be your own - it will not be simply a monument to the lost lives that came before you.
.
But you’re life does begin with a story. A story of a mom who lost too much, too many times, and had a choice in front of her. She had to choose if these hardships would break her down or break her open, because they would break her no matter what. And she was brave - not because she’s strong or a superhero, but because she’s just human in the face of unspeakable odds. Ben, all the bravest people are simply that: human. They get scared and that’s when they know to get brave. And when we get brave, beautiful things can happen.
.
So your mom got brave, and decided to be broken open. And your dad, he carried every heavy thing he could for her. And the time came when there were some things she had to carry on her own, so your dad walked next to her to keep her company. In life, Ben, you’ll want to find people like your dad and keep them very, very close. They make the dark times brighter.
.
Your mom never stopped sharing her story and letting it be used to help others, even when it felt too big and she felt too small. Even when it seemed like it cost too much to share the raw parts. She broke open and she did it in front of others, so they would be brave to break open one day too. The world needs more broken open people, Ben, because that’s where all the beauty comes from.
.
So Ben, I don’t know yet who you will be, but I think it will be someone very special indeed. You are born into the hard fought legacy of tenderness, openness, bravery, and most of all, being simply human in this great big world. I love you, your dad loves you, and we can’t wait to hold you in our arms this June.

_ _ _ _
#mybabydoesntneedatriggerwarning
#notatriggerwarning
#FactsAboutPAL
#PALSupport
#PALAwareness
#courageousmama
#livingafterloss
#pregnancyafterlosssupport
#angelmomssticktogether
#angelmom
#lifeafterloss
#parentingafterloss
#TFMR
#donotlosehope
#rainbowsaremagical
#rainbowbaby
#rainbowpregnancy
#ivfbabys
#miscarriageawareness
#pregnancyafterloss
#1in4
#1in160
Instagram post 2192466426006963569_1698444785 Check on your strong pregnant after loss friend 💜 . We are here for you courageous mama.

_ _ _ _
#mybabydoesntneedatriggerwarning
#notatriggerwarning
#FactsAboutPAL
#PALSupport
#PALAwareness
#courageousmama
#livingafterloss
#pregnancyafterlosssupport
#angelmomssticktogether
#angelmom
#lifeafterloss
#parentingafterloss
#TFMR
#donotlosehope
#rainbowsaremagical
#rainbowbaby
#rainbowpregnancy
#ivfbabys
#miscarriageawareness
#pregnancyafterloss
#1in4
#1in160
#stillbornstillloved
#carryingtoterm
#lifelimitingdiagnosis
Instagram post 2191856114006262326_1698444785 #repost via @meeteverlyjo
・・・
A little bit about me and my beliefs: I would consider myself a fairly liberal person. “Live and let live” type of gal. I will always respect someone else’s beliefs even if I don’t agree with them. Social media has a way of bringing all sorts of people together to make a very diverse community, which is great!! How boring if we were all the same? 👎🏼 During this pregnancy, I have received several messages (and comments on posts), about how “God will bring Everly back to me.” “This baby is Everly Jo, and she will be healthy this time...” Etc.
.
I have mentioned before that this thought/belief is a beautiful way of honoring, mourning, and trying to make sense of our loss, but I don’t believe it to be true.
.
I believe with all my heart that this baby boy is physically kicking around in my belly. And I also believe that as I write this post, Everly is spiritually resting her chin on my shoulder, proof reading my words. 😊
.
I like to picture them both in heaven, two separate spirits. Everly has already completed her mission here on earth, and baby boy is getting pumped to start his. I picture Everly telling him how much fun we are, and how much love he is going to feel during his mission. I picture baby boy thanking his sister for being his biggest cheerleader before he embarks on his journey. I might even picture him hitting his chest and yelling, “WHOOOOAH! COME ON! LETS GO!”, jumping up and down and making caveman noises. When baby boy does that, Everly almost falls out of her chair because his cheers caught her off guard and freaked her out! 😂  I picture Everly telling baby boy how lucky they are to have Urban as their big brother. Poor Urban had to go first and be the guinea pig while mom and dad tried to figure out how to be parents. .
Point I am obviously trying to make, is that this baby boy is not a replacement. He is an addition to our current family of four.
Just like Urban and Everly, we are so excited to see what this third kiddo (and 5th member of our family) will bring to the table. 👱🏼‍♂️👩🏼‍🦳👦🏼👧🏼👶🏼
.
.
.
Thank you @stacey.skrysak for this post idea. I warned her months ago that I was going to steal it. 💕
Copyright 2014 -  © Pregnancy After Loss Support | All Rights Reserved | Policies & Disclosures
FacebookInstagramPinterestTwitterLinkedinEmail
This website uses cookies to customize content, to provide social media features and analyze traffic to our site. We also use third party services we trust to improve your experience. Privacy Policy. ACCEPT