how we started again…

With the new year right around the corner, I can’t help but reflect back on this past year.  I wanted to get real about what we’d been through. Although people go through so much worse than what we did, I still believe it’s important to share how we dug ourselves out, because everyone will face hills at some point in life.  Being a faithful person that truly lives for God and loves Jesus won’t keep you from heartache and pain.  However, true and sincere faith will carry you through whatever this world throws at you; you won’t be touched.  If you cry out in your pain, you’ll come through without a scratch.

Some days, I can’t believe that I’m pregnant.  I know it’s real because I live it, but I’m just so beyond thankful and it doesn’t feel real.  No one ever tells you how hard it is to accept good news after you know what it feels like to received the worst news.  Most of you already know this, but some may not.  In December of 2013, my husband and I lost our first baby shortly after birth.  I dedicated a blog to her story, and it’s posted here.

After losing Darla, I knew right away that the hole I had in my heart was permanent.  It would be there forever.  In fact, I said it was a “Darla-shaped hole,” and to this day it remains open.  I didn’t even try to fill it.  I left that space empty because I knew that nothing else could fill this void that had been carved out just for her.  I had never known to love like a parent until her.

I didn’t know where to start, so I did what came easiest.  I started back into the life I knew from before…but it didn’t feel the same, so I let it change.  I found ways to fill my days so that I would spend as little time as possible lost in my thoughts.  I saved the thinking for the evenings, and only if I needed it.  Together, Jon and I surrounded ourselves with people that we loved.  We did stuff.  I said yes to everything that sounded fun (and seemed safe).  I saw every new experience as an opportunity to heal, to experience life in a new way.  Hot yoga, book clubs, downhill skiing…I said yes to it all.

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I found myself completely surrounded by a community of beautiful people that helped pull me out of my dark place and back into the light again.

I remember the first time that I was walking and smiling, and I realized that I wasn’t thinking about anything.  I was just walking.  That felt really good.

With the support of my husband, I also decided to train for my first marathon.  It was a goal I had always had, and I knew that the healthier my body became, the faster my emotions would heal.  Running gave me something healthy to focus on.

Throughout all of this, I learned a lot about my heart and what it could do.  Just because that Darla-shaped space was there didn’t mean that my heart couldn’t still heal.  The space stayed there, but my heart grew around it.  Love built good things, and made everything better than it was before.  I find myself not knowing the person I was before I held Darla, and I’m grateful for that.  Love for Darla, love for my little family, and love from everyone around me made my heart grow bigger and stronger than ever.  The space that Darla left had changed me, and I could never be the same.

Don’t get me wrong…the healing hurt.  In between happy moments and fun times, there were days that I didn’t even feel human.  I felt like a shell of a person.  Going through a difficult pregnancy had taught me how to go on autopilot, and I used that a lot.  I never knew what exactly would send me spiraling back down, but sometimes I would hear a song or a noise that would remind me of what happened, and it would take me the rest of the day to recover.  I didn’t always know what would trigger me. I needed to heal was because I had been broken, and being broken up into a million tiny pieces hurts.

I used to cry out at night in my grief, and I asked God to take the pain from me.  I’d cry myself to sleep, I felt like I physically couldn’t handle it.  Yet, I knew that I wasn’t alone in my pain and I realized that this didn’t happen to us because of anything we had done.  That’s not how life works.  Being a good person doesn’t protect us from bad things because we live in an imperfect world.  Bad things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.  However, it is how we handle what happens to us that defines our character.  The bad can melt us down and leave us better than before.  Jon and I made a decision that in our pain, we were blessed.  We grew as a couple, we got to hold and love our first daughter.  Life looks different now.

Despite my personal growth, I wasn’t 100% sure if I could ever be a mother.  I yearned to have a child to hold so badly, it hurt.  I just didn’t know how I could go through pregnancy again without feeling completely terrified.  Yet in my fear, I never lost hope.

The amazing thing about hope is that it doesn’t take much for hope to grow and multiply until one day…you smile at the thought of being pregnant.  You look at the baby clothes you tucked away in the back of the closet and you don’t cry.  You feel genuinely happy for others around you that are expecting, and experiencing the very thing you’d give anything to have.

You accept the truth: as much as you loved your child, and as sure as you would have given anything to save her, you realize that Earth wasn’t the best place for her.  It’s not the best place for any of us.  Heaven is…that’s the goal.  And that’s where she is.

You realize that you are the mother to an angel.  You got to meet someone that was so perfect and beautiful, she got to “take the express lane” back.  You feel blessed to have even known her, let alone to have carried her for 30 weeks.

Your heart leaps when you remember how she responded to your voice in the hospital, all the nurses and doctors saw it.  Someone so small and so perfect knew who you were and felt safe with you.  You remember falling asleep with her in your arms.  What could be better than that?IMG_0663

You know that no matter what happens…you’d do it all again, and you’d never do anything different.

And then, you feel ready to try.

In June, I was ready to try.

In August, I got 2 pink lines, and I wept.

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After 12 long months of waiting and hoping, Jon and I couldn’t feel more blessed that this spring…we will welcome our second baby girl to the world.  Our family will grow by one more.  While we are hoping and praying every day for a baby that will be healthy, but we are open and excited and honored to love this baby just as much, and no matter what.  We celebrate this pregnancy and this child as an individual.  Although I cannot forget what happened, I know that this baby deserves to be its own baby.  My heart continues to grow.

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We couldn’t have gotten here alone, and we can’t continue alone.  Strong in our faith and surround by love for each other, our family, and our friends…we know we will always come through pain without a scratch.

12 responses to “how we started again…”

  1. Thanks for sharing your story.. and I am so happy to hear you are expecting again! Wishing you a healthy and happy pregnancy!

    1. Thank you for reading and for your kind wishes! Everything is going well, 24 weeks and 3 days today.

  2. I read your tips for running while pregnant and then ended up on this post…oh dear. I’m sorry for your loss. (I wanted to read the story, but the link didn’t work?) I have been affected by infant loss (not myself, but those very close and dear to me), so your post really got to me. I am thankful that you are doing well and pray for a healthy pregnancy and baby!
    On a side note…I agree that running is a great distraction. It’s been my “therapy” before. 🙂

    1. my western nest Avatar
      my western nest

      Thank you for reading, and for letting me know about the link (I just tried to fix it). I’m sorry for your losses as well. Infant loss is so hard to deal with…they are so small and fragile, and as much as you want to fix them, sometimes you just can’t. Things are going well, thank you :). Just hanging tight and trying not to drive myself crazy…hence, the running.

  3. Your post just broke my heart, and in all honesty, I can’t even click on the link to your full story with Darla…I am so sincerely sorry and though I had two miscarriages and feared pregnancy, I can’t imagine how it feels for you. I learnt through it all {and other hard life things} that God is all we need..There have been moments in my life we’re I achingly realised He was the only one I could turn to and where I would find understanding, compassion and strength. I’m going to write you down in my prayer journal and pray for you, and follow along. Bless you sister x

    1. my western nest Avatar
      my western nest

      Thank you so much for reading about my Darla and for sharing your story with my. I also cannot imagine the pain of going through a miscarriage not once, but twice. I want to follow along with your sweet family and I am glad to have connected with you. Thank you for your words of encouragement. You and your family will be in my prayers as well.

  4. I’m your neighbor at Purposeful Faith link-up and so glad to find your story. Thank you for sharing so honestly. Your faith in the midst of your grief will certainly give hope to someone with a similar experience. I especially love how you write that the space in your heart is still there, but your heart grows around it. Congratulations, and God’s best to you and your family!

    1. Thank you so much for reading our story. We were so blessed to have her, and we are so blessed to be expecting her little sister 🙂

  5. My heart is right there with you in your pain. I can’t imagine,but I know it must have been so hard. At the same time, my heart is right there with you in the joy. Thank you so much for joining the cheerleading linkup; your words are beautiful and I commend you on going deep. Keep going. Cheering you on!

  6. […] How We Started Again… from My Western […]

  7. […] How We Started Again… [My Western Nest] This is a beautiful post. She went through the terrible hardship of losing her baby. She trusted her Savior and amazingly saw blessing in her pain. She is now expecting a baby girl this spring. I won’t say more as I cannot summarize her post and do it justice. Please read it. […]

  8. I read the post about meeting your sweet Darla, and it brought me to tears. Lots of them. 😉

    Thanks for sharing, and what a precious gift she was to this world, even for just a short time. Congratulations on the news of her sister.

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