Hi -
I haven't posted on FT in a few years. I used to post regularly on the IF boards and occasionally on the Loss boards. I suffered a second trimester miscarriage (very unusual) on September 14, 2000 at 16 weeks gestation. Yes - that's right...nine years ago. Gabriel was our one and only pregnancy we've ever had. We went on to experience IF and had some Tx but never conceived again. Our blessing came in 2004 when we adopted our beautiful son.
Anyway, I recently learned about a non-profit organization that made me feel like Gabriel was telling me "Don't forget about me, Mommy". I've made it my mission to spread the word in Gabriel's memory.
As a lot of you know, October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness month. During the month of October, a walk is held in many parts of the nation as well as in Canada called "Walk To Remember". I live in Orange County, CA and the website for our local walk is www.ocwalktoremember.org. They are awesome. The money they raise from the walk is donated to hospitals, hospices and it is used to fund memory box programs, digital cameras for hospitals, books for perinatal loss libraries, etc. They even have paid for hospital nurses to attend bereavement training.
Pregnancy & Infant Loss is such a taboo and secret grief that so many of us endure in silence. This walk allows us to remind everyone around us that our children are still our babies and we are still parents even if we don't have him/her in our arms to prove it. The Walk's slogan is "We walk for the steps our babies will never take."
The Orange County Walk To Remember will be held on October 10 at the UCI campus. You can set up a fundraising campaign, create a team, or just register yourself to walk. Before the walk, they do a memorial service where each baby's name is read out loud. Other walks will take place in various parts of the country during October so just do a search online for "Walk to remember for babies" and add your state/area.
ALSO - even if you can't join the walk, you can also just send a donation in your child's name.
Well, to all of my fellow bereaved parents, I send you warm hugs and many blessings. Please share this information with anyone you think would benefit from it. Lastly, I'm happy to share that we completed our homestudy last week and are currently waiting to be matched for adoption #2. YAY!!!!
Jackie
(Gabriel's mommy - 9/14/00)
http://www.active.com/donate/rememberinggabriel
