Lasting Hearts Card Drive....

As a Mom who lost an my only daughter, (Kristyn Alyssa), who was tragically stillborn, on April 19, 1991, the "Lasting Hearts Card Drive", has truly touched my heart.  From the moment I read about it on Facebook, I knew I wanted to be part of this.  You are find out all the details over on Jennifer McGuire's Blog, most of which I am sharing here -- "taken from Jennifer's' Blog!

 

"Lasting Hearts is here to help comfort mothers who have lost a piece of their heart. Losing a child, whether in pregnancy or older, can be one of the hardest pains a parent can endure. We would like to raise awareness and show other mothers that they are not alone, that they are stronger than they realize, and that there are people out there who care dearly. Hopefully, our story will move others to do just that.

Just 9 months after giving birth to our first child, we were surprised and overjoyed to be welcoming another one on the way. We did what all parents with a growing family would do: told our close friends and family, looked into buying a larger home, and started planning for another life-changing event. We were elated to be bringing our sweet daughter another brother or sister.

Our joy soon to turned to heartache. We found out at our first ultrasound that we were set to have twins, however one of our precious babies had passed early on in the pregnancy. With heavy hearts, we tried to stay positive and prayed for the surviving twin to be a healthy baby. In our second ultrasound we were relieved and comforted by our baby’s precious heartbeat and left the doctor’s office feeling hopeful. Sadly, our fears became reality in our third ultrasound. After examining the ultrasound, our tech turns to us and asks, “Did you say you heard your baby’s heartbeat”? Instantly, we lost a piece of our hearts. Our lives were forever changed after losing not one but two of our babies in the same pregnancy.

We sat in the examination room, completely devastated and broken, waiting for our doctor. She comes in and does her best to console us but nothing she says could ease the pain. Her clinical response of “25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage” or “there was nothing you could’ve done to prevent this” just fell on deaf ears. None of it satisfied the two questions that kept running through our heads – “How could this happen?” and “why did this happen?” As amazing of an OBGYN as she is, she just wasn’t equipped to comfort 2 people whose world had been turned upside down. The conversation continues to how best to proceed in removing the fetuses, a conversation that’s cold in stark contrast to how we imagined delivering our precious children. We were absolutely heartbroken.

We kept our loss private for some time, not knowing how to express our grief and slightly afraid of the stigma that comes with miscarriages. It was too painful to speak of and too agonizing to share. One of the first people I reached out to was my dear friend, Amy, who had lost her son towards the end of her pregnancy and who knew the heartache all too well. I looked to her for her strength and for guidance on how she’s been able to continue to be a great mom to her young daughter after losing her infant son. A couple of days later I received a book from Amy, “You are the Mother of all Mothers” by Angela Miller. After only reading a few pages, I finally let myself accept for the first time that what happened to us was not my fault and that I did have the strength to continue to be a better mom and wife. The book’s encouraging message is conveyed in a way that is thoughtful, uplifting, compassionate and relatable.

With a newfound strength, I brought this book to our OBGYN and asked her if she’d be open to distributing these to patients who had miscarried if we provided them. She agreed without any hesitation. The author, Angela Miller, has graciously agreed to offer 40% off the list price so that we may help those who are in the disheartening situation we were once in. I can’t help but think of the mothers who don’t have support, don’t know where to turn, or just need to know that “No one else could carry this unrelenting burden as courageously. It is the heaviest, most torturous burden there is”.

 

In summary, Kimberly is hoping to have copies of this helpful book along with handmade cards available for doctors to give to parents who lose their babies.
What an amazing idea! And we can help.

So there are TWO ways you can help. You can do one or both – whatever you are comfortable with. You can donate money and/or cards.

DONATION

If you are interested in donating money, you can head HERE. This money will 100% be used to purchase “You are the Mother of all Mothers” books by Angela Miller to give to parents who have just experienced the loss of a child via miscarriage. The price of each book is $12 but any amount helps.

CARD DRIVE

Kimberly also plans to include a handmade card from a caring stranger with each book. And I thought we could help!

If you are interesting in creating a card to be given to these parents when they get a book, here is the info. It is simple:

• You can send as many cards as you would like.
• Please use a sentiment such as: thinking of you, in my prayers, in my thoughts, sending hugs, sorry for your loss.
• For the inside of the card, you can either leave it blank or hand-write a simple message. Not much – just simple and kind. The message can be something listed above, along with your first name and hometown. (Such as: “Sending lots of prayers from Jennifer in Cincinnati.”)
• Please send cards in unsealed envelopes to:
        Lasting Hearts Card Drive
        2892 N Bellflower Blvd Ste 216
        Long Beach Ca 90815
• Include a post-it note on the card(s) with your name and email address so you can be eligible for a prize!
• If you would like to include a donation via mail, you are welcome to but not required to.

    Source:  Jennifer McGuire Ink Thanks for allowing us to share!!   

   Losing a child is a pain and hurt that no parent wants to live.   My baby girl has multiple abnormalities and never would have lived outside my womb.  I lost her in my sixth month of pregnancy and it truly broke my heart.  What was worse is that many people simply did not understand how devastated I was.  They simple could not relate to my true pain at losing a child that had never been able to come home...!  It killed me!   I cried and cried for days and I'll never forget that awful pain!   At that time, there was very little support for this type of loss and that made it even harder for me.   I was blessed to go on to be able to get pregnant again and on April 16, 1992, almost a year to that tragic day, I gave birth a my son, Alex.  A happy and healthly baby boy, who I love with all my heart.  I am truly lucky to have two amazing sons and they are my world!  But, I will always and forever miss my only daughte and I dedicate this post to her memory!

  Sharing pictures of the cards I made to send to Kimberly.  Please join me and support this wonderful cause!   Thank you!!

 

Hugs and Prayers to all who have a lost a child!

God Bless !!