Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Do you know what today is?

Today, October 15th, is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States.

This is a very important day.

It's not only a special day, set aside to acknowledge and remember all losses, but there are some things to be accomplished.

1. Help Pass the Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act. Today, on October 15th, publish a post on your blog supporting H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act. GOAL: 1,000,000 Google results on October 15th when that term is searched for. Currently, Google only returns 20,400 pages - most of which have nothing to do with the bill.

From Miss Antigone ... "Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce its incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let's help pass H.R. 5979."

2. Help spread the word. Blog about what today is. Do it today. Tell others. Tell people you normally wouldn't tell, meaning non-bloggers. Bring it up in a conversation to start to show people this isn't something we have to whisper about.

3. Light a candle tonight at 7pm ~your~ time for 1 hour to honor all babies lost. This way, there will be a continuous "wave of light" to remember all our babies.

Please. Do something for today. It's important.


I am remembering all lost babies today. But I wanted to list a few special names that have special memories for me...

Angel Rose, lost to Julie.
Henry, lost to Antigone.
Twins, lost to Katie.
Baby, lost to my best friend, Ryan.
Baby, lost to a my beautiful friend Laurel.
Samuel, lost to Sara.
Baby, lost to Jamie.
Baby, lost to Jen.
Lily Ann Hope, lost to Kelly.
Evelyn, lost to Jessi.
Two babies, lost to friend Jessica.
The Doodles, lost to Busted.
Babies, lost to Meg.
Babies, lost to Bleu.
Zachary Andrew, lost to Ann.
Baby, lost to friend Dana.
Joshua, lost to another close friend, Dana.
And lastly, to the other 8 members of "The Mod Squad". My little embryos who didn't make it any further in their little petri dishes. I know they don't really count as it wasn't a pregnancy loss, but they were real to me and they were my little babies who I wished long and hard for each one of their survival.

There are dozens of others I personally "know" from the community, including chemical pregnancies to stillbirths. My not listing them does not make them not important. It simply means I didn't find the link while I was typing up the list.

13 comments:

Nikki said...

Nancy - thanks for your comment today. I did it. I sent the email, and like you suggested - I wrote to everyone to not light their candles out of pity for DH and me, but to do it to honor the little souls of the babies we have lost. And to honor the souls of the millions of other babies that didn't make it.

Geohde said...

Well said, Nancy. Well said,

J

Sara said...

Thank you Nancy. This means a lot to me.

Hollie said...

Thank you for bringing this issue to light. I'm going to post about this on my blog.

rocket.queen. said...

Thank you for remembering us. Despite our differences in the past, it brought tears to my eyes to know that you cared enough to include us on your list.

<3

If you ever need cloth diaper help, I am totally happy to oblige. We do it full time so I've got some useful experience.

Sarah said...

My heart goes out to everyone who has experienced a loss...

^i^

Jen said...

Crying today. Thank you for thinking of me. I'm going to post this on my blog as well. I will light a candle tonight too.
Thank you-it means a lot.

dahliah said...

Thank you for this post. I hope everyone who can will light a candle tonight.

Catie said...

Thank you for this post Nancy, it means more to me than you could ever know. In addition to Lex's birthday candle tonight one will be lit for my friends who had lost and for Lex's older sibling...

The Captain's Wife said...

Thanks Nancy- I posted a little blurb on my blog as well as a link.

Jamie said...

Thank you, Nancy.

Birdee said...

~Thank you~

Anonymous said...

I didn't know about this. I lost mine over two years ago - thank you for posting about this. I'm going to try to do something special;;;