-
Creating a Sands Ribbon Display for Baby Loss Awareness Week 2024
I saw an email about setting up a Sands Ribbon Display and wondered if that would be something I could do. I liked the idea of the displays and thought the photos I’d seen were beautiful. There wasn’t a ribbon display local to me so I thought I’d keep it on my mind and see…
-
A lifetime of lip balm
One of the items I made sure to have in my hospital bag with Astrid was a lip balm. I’m not far from one at the best of times and I’d heard in my antenatal prep that the rooms are kept a touch warmer than most would like, to keep things comfortable for the babies,…
-
Getting my ears pierced (again) at 30
A year ago I got my ears pierced, again. It was a really cathartic thing to do in the very early months of grieving and I was thinking about it recently, realising it had been a year. Before I was pregnant, I had a cosmetic surgery on my earlobes after having stretched them as a…
-
Rebuilding
There is a building site near where I live and I realised recently it’s nearly finished. It’s been being used as a site for materials years and I really noticed it in the early months I was grieving. As I ventured out of the safety of home, I found that I noticed as parts out…
-
Why I’ve banned the word ‘should’
I was talking with a friend recently about how I don’t engage with thinking along the lines of ‘my daughter should be 1 year old’ or ‘we wouldn’t be doing this if she hadn’t died’. In the very early days sure, the word and thought popped into mind and many people around me said it…
-
A year of Honeysuckle postcards
Last November we took a rainy drive over to Liverpool and attended our first Honeysuckle support group. I never imagined myself sitting around a table in a community centre with perfect strangers introducing myself and telling our sweet girl’s story through tears, but there we were. One year on and I’m reflecting on the impact…
-
A birthday to remember
I decided to create family memory boxes for Astrid’s first birthday. I’m not sure where the idea came from, but it popped into my mind one day that I’d like to give some of Astrid’s family a little gift from her and it went from there. We had been so ready to share our girl…
-
Accidental friendship bracelets
A few weeks ago I shared the idea I had with the Honeysuckle support group I attend and the idea seemed to be something that other people liked and felt they might do for their babies, which was nice but unexpected. I also didn’t expect that one of the volunteers who helps at the groups…
-
What happens when your Rainbow Baby dies too?
The term ‘Rainbow baby’ used to be one I loved, it represented the beauty that comes after a difficult time and when I first encountered it felt it fit my situation perfectly. I had a first trimester miscarriage and understood that they were common. And, while absolutely heartbreaking I held onto the hope that reassures…
-
Fragile Confidence
I’ve had a tricky relationship with confidence, it’s always been something that I’ve had when built up by others. I have a huge need for reassurance from others and recognise this and adjust in most things I do. I really felt that being a mother would be something I would be good at. I did…