During summer breaks, my 12-week reprieve from the regimented early-morning school schedule, my three girls and I love to sleep in and lounge around in our pajamas all morning (okay, they lounge while I do dishes and laundry and try to get them to pick up their stuff that’s strewn all over the house!).  We [...]

By Monica Novak – A reader (I’ll call her Lori) wrote in one day  to say that her husband had been contacted by a woman he had dated nearly 30 years earlier.  She told him she had broken up with him because she had been pregnant.  She went on to deliver a premature baby who [...]

By Monica Novak – When our daughter Miranda was stillborn 14 years ago, despite the love and support from family and friends, my husband Al and I often felt a strange aloneness, as if we were existing in another world emotionally separated from everything and everyone around us.  My saving grace became the local Share [...]

By Monica Novak – It was July and summer was still in full-swing when the seasonal patio furniture began to quietly disappear from local stores.  I knew what was coming, but said nothing.  Before long, the signs and bins began going up, and children either delighted or groaned.  Parents, too, either delighted or groaned.  Back [...]

I was having breakfast with my friend Wendy on a recent Sunday morning when she told me this story.  On her way out of church that morning, she saw an older woman sitting in the pew crying.  It’s a large congregation, and Wendy didn’t know the woman, but something inside Wendy told her to stop. [...]

I received a call one day from Pat, the Share support group facilitator and perinatal bereavement coordinator at the local hospital, telling me that she and I had been invited to speak to one of the departments at a nearby corporation.  Diana, the manager who had contacted Pat, told her that one of her employees, [...]

By Monica Novak – When I began writing this weekly column, A Mother’s Thoughts, my intention was to post something new once a week.  Shouldn’t be too difficult, doesn’t have to be long and drawn-out.  I’ll just add it to the list of things to do floating in my head.  But life has a way [...]

By Jean Kollantai – The experience of carrying two, loving two, getting ready to totally care for two lively babies at once was something I never could have imagined until it happened to me…and so was the emotional impact of the stillbirth of a twin or twins.  After a good pregnancy, carefully monitored with all [...]

By Barbara A. Glanz – In 1971 I faced the most difficult experience of my life, one which has changed me forever.  I had grown up in a small town in Iowa where families were the center of our lives.  I loved dolls and babysitting, and I could hardly wait to be a mother!  I [...]

By Beth Seyda – After my infant son, Dylan, died I started jotting down various things and scenes I recalled from our experience.  I wanted to write about these memories not only to capture the details of Dylan’s life and death as a personal keepsake, but I also wanted to send it to our health [...]

From Open to Hope: Ask The Authors, December 10, 2008 Tammy writes in with a question: My friend who is 52 is grieving over a baby she lost when she was 17. She has 2 other children, both adults now. But she is suddenly feeling this loss, feeling like she was supposed to have 3 [...]

By Monica Novak – As I walked into the house on a Friday morning, my husband, Al, handed me the front page of the Chicago Tribune.  ”I think you should read this,” he said. The headline story read, “Blogger’s baby a hoax.” An unmarried Chicago suburban woman named Beccah, also known as “April’s mom”, had [...]

By Monica Novak – When I was a child, I prided myself on making the best homemade cards to show my parents how important they were to me. Father’s Day was probably the Big Kahuna of card-making for me because in the eyes of this little girl, Daddy was king. He was the one whose [...]

Dear Friends, Welcome to the first post of my new weekly column, A Mother’s Thoughts. I’ll be sharing stories from my own experience, stories told to me by others, and any topics I come across that are relevant to pregnancy loss and infant death. I welcome your comments, questions, and your own personal experiences, for [...]