Everyone handles grief differently. We take steps to slowly heal and often find ways to honor and remember our babies. While I was given so many resources over this past year, here are the ones that have personally helped me the most dealing with child loss.
(Note I am not an affiliate for any of these organizations or companies,
I just appreciate all they do and how they have been a part of my journey in healing)
Books & Devotionals
Here are some books and online devotionals I was given or recommended either at the hospital or from family and friends. Now keep in mind some of these I couldn't read at certain moments or made me angry depending on where I was in grieving but they were crucial in my healing and there was a time and place for each of them.
Mother of all Mothers
I was given this book at the hospital and it help me know that I am a good mother. Especially after losing a baby there are so many doubts creeping in, wondering what I should have done differently. This book has short affirmations that are easy to read especially when overwhelmed and gave me peace.
Loved Baby
I received this book about 11 months after my loss, it has been so helpful but I wish I would have had it that first month. It addresses so many feelings I was and am going through and it is not sugar coated. It is so relatable in all of the hard and ugly feelings we go through but also provides practical small steps to do each day to bring healing
Empty Cradle Broken Heart
This was also given to me at the hospital, It book with a LOT of information. It took me a while to read it because there was too much to digest for me, but it did help a lot, it covers so many areas but I had to wait a few months before I could mentally focus to absorb it.
When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer
This book was recommended by my pastor, and it helped so much with my healing. That being said there were some points I was so angry at God that I couldn't read it, I didn't want to read anything. Like I have mentioned before I got easily overwhelmed with reading after our loss. It helped me remember that God did not cause this loss but he is there to hold me as I cry and be with me every step of the way.
Short Free Online Devotionals
These devotionals and their descriptions are from bible.com
5 Day Devotional
Experiencing a miscarriage is one of the most difficult and heart-wrenching losses a woman can go through. It’s often accompanied by anger, doubt, grief, loneliness, and shame, just to name a few. This plan will help bring healing to your weary soul and guidance to the thoughts of doubt, showing you how to find hope and God in your loss.
5 Day Devotional
When Kim's three-year-old son passed away, she found plenty of resources on grieving. She says what she really needed, though, “was someone who would give me advice for living, not just grieving.” In this five-day devotional, Kim will share a raw vulnerability, a deep well of wisdom, and the knowledge of someone who’s been there as she walks grieving parents through the life-after-death process and surviving the sorrow of loss.
7 Day Devotional
One in four women experience pregnancy loss. It is a complicated and heart-wrenching grief. In these daily readings, author Sarah Philpott gently walks alongside readers as they experience the misguided shame, isolation, and crushing despair that accompany the turmoil of miscarriage and stillbirth. Sarah helps point readers toward the hope of Christ and the promise that our children are in Heaven.
7 Day Devotional
This devotional is an invitation to feel, to wrestle, to be fully awake in your suffering after miscarriage or other loss. It is also an invitation to be nurtured and understood and to hear from another woman that the pain gets better, even as we long for the day when our tears are wiped away and pain is no more. Wherever you are on your journey of grief after losing a baby—or any kind of personal heartache or suffering—I pray these words will be a gateway for God’s grace. Let’s dive deep together.
Keepsakes
Footprint Necklace by NovaRomaJewelry
I really wanted a necklace with Aveline's name on it. I searched for months and finally found Faith's shop on Etsy. This little footprint necklace has her birthday and name on it. I wear it all the time. Faith was so sweet, helpful and does beautiful work and I highly recommend her.
The Memory Box
At the hospital we received a beautiful memory box that a sweet nurse customized for us putting Aveline's name and photos on the frame. They also put copies of her foot and hand prints and the measuring tape, her little hats as well as other keepsakes. I keep photos of her, flowers from that week and other reminders of her in that box. They also provided a smaller box which we ahve these precouis 3d molds of her hands and feet.
