October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and tomorrow October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Unfortunately 1 in 4 women will experience miscarriage, infant loss, or stillbirth. It’s not just a statistic; it’s me.
Back in March 2016 before I became pregnant with the twins, I heartbreakingly suffered an early miscarriage. It was our first pregnancy. We went to my first prenatal appointment only to be told they couldn’t find a heartbeat. Where the baby should’ve been measuring almost 9 weeks, the baby was only measuring 6 weeks. To say I left the appointment devastated is an understatement. What’s worse was that it was Hubby’s birthday.
The next day I went to the hospital for a more detailed ultrasound only for it to confirm what I knew was coming. Because I wasn’t experiencing any symptoms that would indicate I was going to miscarry naturally, I opted for a D&C (dilation and curettage). A D&C is a surgical procedure that removes tissue from the uterus lining. While the procedure itself wasn’t physically hard to recover from, emotionally it was my last goodbye to that pregnancy.
No one knows how much I cried that day.
One of the hardest parts of my miscarriage was that I didn’t publicly share the news online at first. I know it may sound like “first world problems” not to post on social media, but besides my close family and friends, no one knew what I was going through. Once I did find the courage to break my silence though, it tremendously helped with the healing process. Not only did I receive so many words of support, but many friends revealed they also had previously miscarried too. It just goes to show you how unfortunately common miscarriages are. We don’t know how common they are though because no one ever talks about them.
That’s why I wanted to share my story today, to bring awareness.
Tomorrow October 15th at 7 PM, whether you lost a child or know someone who has, light a candle and join the wave of light as we remember those babies gone too soon.