Claire

Today I am praying for Claire. In November of 2007, Claire was so excited to tell us that she was pregnant. She was scheduled for her 12 week ultrasound the same day that we had our weekly ladies night. Unfortunately, instead of sharing the news of her pregnancy, she told us that they could not find a heartbeat- she had miscarried. Claire had a D&C. Weeks later she was not feeling well and wondered if she could be pregnant again- it seemed too soon, but her tests were coming back positive. She discovered that not only was she not pregnant, but her first D&C did not get all of the tissue so she had to go in for another one. I am happy to report that Claire is once again pregnant and expecting her first child in March.

It is here!!!!

After what seemed like months of "headstone shopping" through cemeteries and numerous attempts to draw up our vision, our headstone is done and is in place! It is everything I dreamed it would be. Jason and I walked there last night and happened to catch a Holland football game while we sat there and admired it. It seems kinda wierd to be so excited for a headstone, but to me it symbolizes that they really were here. I welcome any of you to come by and visit. It is located in Pilgrim Home cemetery along the edge of the stadium, under the tree. There are only a few there, so it is not too hard to find.

The cemetery is pretty picky about what you can and can't put on the graves, but I couldn't resist putting my mini pumpkins on there!

Today I am praying for Shelly Plaggemars. I have never personally met Shelly, but she works at the same company as Jason. At 20 weeks, she went in to find out the gender of her twins, and sadly she realized that they had passed away- there were no heartbeats. She gave birth to Adam and Isaiah this summer. I don't remember the specific date, but I remember that it was shortly after we lost our girls because the pain was still so intense and my heart just broke when I heard someone else had to experience this pain.

Sarah

Today I am praying for Sarah Terpstra. When trying for her first child, she experienced numerous miscarriages in early pregnancy. She was able to finally carry a baby to full term and had her daughter Lilian in December of 2005. While trying for baby #2, she once again experienced miscarriages. Luckily, she was blessed with another full term pregnancy and she gave birth to her second daughter Sophia in April of this year.

Thanks to all who lit their candles last night. We lit one for Brooke, one for Alexcyn and one for all the babies that we know that are up in Heaven. Hope you all had as peaceful of a night as I did!

October 15

October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Rememberance Day. This includes all babies that have died from miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS or any infant death. As a way of remembering, everyone is asked to light a candle at 7 pm tonight and leave it burning for an hour. This will create a "wave of light" all over the world in rememberance of all the babies that we have lost. You can check out more information on this website, http://www.october15th.com/


I ask all of you today to please light a candle in rememberance of Brooke, Alexcyn and all the babies that I am mentioning this month in my blog.



Candles - Written by Tim Russell, Kokomo, IN

On streets of gold, walk many children with candles all aglow.
Happy faces, shining smiles, but there is one that stands alone.
Oh and when asked to join the others she just smiles at them and says
I cannot keep my candle lit from the tears from my mothers eyes.
For my mother is now weeping just for me.
Although she does not understand that I'm living in this promised land
Where my candle's light can take away her tears.
Oh sometimes it seems so lonely, in our hearts we seem so sad,
From a loss of our precious loved ones and the memories that we have,
Oh but keep your eyes on their lights, let their candle shine so bright.
For they cannot keep their candles lit, from the tears that we shed,
So remember that they're living in His love.
As Jesus walks with them, let their life shine within,
And their candles light can take away all our tears....

Michelle

Today I am praying for my sister in law Michelle. In the fall of 2006, we found out they were expecting their second child. At the 12 week ultrasound they found out that the baby did not have a heartbeat- she had miscarried. She had a D&C and the tests from the tissue came back as a partial molar pregnancy. This is a very serious condition. Michelle had to get blood work done every month to make sure her numbers were staying down and was told with no exceptions that she had to take a year off before trying to get pregnant again. One year later, she was pregnant and gave birth to our beautiful niece Brinae.

Rachel

Today I am praying for Rachel Ratledge. She is a member of our church and she reached out with words of encouragement and sympathy after our loss. I have never actually met Rachel so I don't know her full story. All I know is that she gave birth to a son, Nathan, at 38 weeks- he was stillborn. Even though it has been a year since her loss, the pain is still there, it is just not as intense. She explained a peace that she had knowing that Nathan was resting in the arms of Jesus. I pray that she may always find that peace in her heart.

This weekend was a busy one for us. We had our niece Kyla over for the night. This is something that we like to do every now and then and actually were supposed to do the week that my water broke. We took her to the ballet to see Peter and the Wolf and then to Cranes to go through the Corn Maze and then we celebrated Halloween early at a local campground. We were exhausted, but had so much fun. Yesterday we were able to enjoy what will most likely be our last boating day of the year.

Kyla and I in the corn

Kyla on Uncle Jay's shoulders after getting lost in the corn and getting too tired to walk!

Last boating day and sadly, the only boating picture I took all year

As we were headed in for the night, this mini rainbow caught my eye and I thought it was beautiful.

Kim

Today I am praying for Kim Smit. This summer she was so excited to tell us that she was expecting her second child. Unfortunately, she found out at her 12 week ultrasound that the baby did not have a heartbeat; she had miscarried.

Also an update on Katie- she had surgery and everything looked good. Her drs think that because she was on dialysis her fluids were not going where they should and caused her to not have enough fluid to urinate. I am happy to report that she is urinating a lot now and everything looks good!