Confessions of a Grieving Mother

Type of loss: Early-term loss, ectopic loss, multiple losses, stillborn More about Kayla's story: In this episode, Kayla DeCristoforo shares her journey through multiple devastating losses. After two ectopic pregnancies, Kayla was hopeful when she became pregnant with her daughter. Tragically, at 22 weeks, she received the heartbreaking news that her baby no longer had a heartbeat. Kayla opens...

Type of Loss: Early-term loss More about Tabitha's Story: Listen as Tabitha shares about the tragic early-term loss of her daughter, Hanna, during the height of the COVID pandemic. Faced with inadequate medical care and heartbreaking personal struggles, Tabitha shares how she navigated grief, family drama, and the devastating loss of her baby girl. From traumatic medical experiences to healing...

Taboo Topic Series: This season, we are kicking off our Taboo Topic series where we discuss the uncomfortable topics that go hand-in-hand with losing your baby. If you have a suggestion for this series, please reach out to us at khristina@emmasfootprints.com. More about this episode: In this episode of our Taboo Topic series, we dive into one of the most difficult conversations surrounding pregnan...

Type of Loss: Life-limiting diagnosis, Infant loss, Early-term loss, Multiple losses More about Danielle's Story: Listen as Danielle shares the emotional story of her daughter Daniela. After a smooth pregnancy at 45, Danielle's world was turned upside down at 42 weeks when unexpected complications arose. Born not breathing and quickly taken to the NICU, Daniela was later diagnosed with Tri...

Type of Loss: Stillborn More about Jamie's Story: Jamie Halwey shares the heartbreaking story of losing her son Charles, whose life was tragically cut short due to true knots in his umbilical cord. Jamie reflects on what seemed to be a textbook pregnancy and the profound grief that followed. Learn more about Emma's Footprints: ⁠⁠www. EmmasFootprints.com⁠⁠ Facebook: @EmmasFootprints Instagr...

Type of loss: Early term loss, multiple losses, Infant loss More about Madi's Story: Listen as Madi bravely shares her sweet Ruth with us. Madi had experienced two early term pregnancy losses prior to getting pregnant with Ruth. Madi and her husband, Ben, were ecstatic when they got pregnant with Ruth and had a fairly uneventful pregnancy until 36 weeks gestation. Madi had to be induced due to...

Type of Loss: Early-term loss, multiple losses, heterotopic pregnancy More about Tara's Story: Tara and her husband were over the excited when they found out they were pregnant with their first child in October 2011. After a few weeks, she started bleeding, after an ER visit, and 2 HCG tests, they discovered that the baby was not growing correctly. At this time, Tara started to experience seve...

Listen as Tracy and Julie talk with one of our favorite guests, Pamela Presler. Pam dives into the topic of Grief Confidence, explains what it is and what it means to your grief journey. More about Pamela Presler, LCSW, CPLC: Pamela is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker practicing in Erie, Pennsylvania. The services she provides are based on 20 years of developing new and innovative approaches to i...

Type of Loss: Stillborn More about Negar's Story: Negar explains her pregnancy as a textbook pregnancy until around 27 weeks gestation. At a routine appointment she was given the devastating news that her baby no longer had a heartbeat. Negar describes how losing her daughter plunged her into several months of deep grief. Listen as she describes how she pulled herself from that deep grief and...

Type of Loss: Early-term loss, Life-limiting diagnosis, Infant loss More about Emily's Story: Listen as Emily shares her journey to motherhood with us. She shares her difficult journey to get pregnant and then how her first pregnancy ended in an early term loss. Her second pregnancy resulted in the healthy delivery of her, now 3, year old son Rhett. Her third pregnancy was not planned but they...

Type of Loss: Life-limiting diagnosis, Infant loss More about Kathy's Story: Listen as Kathy shares her sweet Jonathan with us. Kathy talks about how her pregnancy was closely monitored because Jonathan had Down Syndrome. After birth, Kathy explains how she knew almost immediately that something was not right. Jonathan ended up being diagnosed with a rare infantile epilepsy. He spent 5 weeks i...

Listen as Tracy and Julie dive into the details of our 2024 Memorial Walks. We encourage you to create a team in memory of your baby. It gives you a space to say your baby's name, shed tears and acknowledge where you are at in your grief journey. Use the links below to register your team! 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: Thursday, September 12 - Sunday, September 15, 2024 Wherever YOU live - You...

Type of Loss: Stillborn More about Jenna's Story: Jenna's second pregnancy with her daughter Julianna (Jules), was what she considered a textbook pregnancy and moved through the typical milestones until Jules' movement was not as consistent or as strong as expected. Although everything along the way had been fine, Jenna couldn't shake this feeling that something wasn't right. J...

Type of Loss: Vanishing Twin, Early-Term Loss More about Meagan's Story: Meagan and her husband's first pregnancy with their son, Oliver, was what she described as a textbook pregnancy. Together, Meagan and her husband, decided they wanted their children to be close in age. When Oliver was about 8 months old, they made the decision to try for their second child. They quickly found out they...

Type of Loss: Stillbirth More about Lindsey's Story: In this episode, Tracy and Julie talk with Lindsey Henke a psychotherapist, author, speaker and loss mama. In 2012, Lindsey was freshly married and a newly practicing psychotherapist when she found out she is pregnant with her first child. After a perfect pregnancy, Lindsey went into labor—only to be told upon arrival at the hospital that he...

Listen as Tracy and Julie talk with Brad Kogut from Guys and Grief and Rob Reider from Sad Dads Club for a special Father's Day episode. Episode Resources: guysandgrief.com saddadsclub.com Learn more about Emma's Footprints: www. EmmasFootprints.com Facebook: EmmasFootprints

Type of Loss: Infant Loss, Early Term Loss More about Heather's Story: Listen as Heather shares her daughter Lyla with us. Lyla was 13 days old when she passed away due to strokes in her brain, caused by a rare genetic disorder. Learn more about Emma's Footprints: www. EmmasFootprints.com Facebook: EmmasFootprints

In this episode, in honor of Emma Kathryn Dailey's 17th birthday, Tracy and Julie reflect on Emma's Footprints from its beginning, discuss what the organization is today, and bring in a special guest, Pam Presler, to talk about the future of Emma's Footprints.

In this episode, Tracy and Julie discuss their grief journeys and how they have changed over the years. They provide tools that have allowed them to guide their grief rather than be controlled by it. Learn more about Emma's Footprints: www. EmmasFootprints.com Facebook: EmmasFootprints

Type of Loss: Life-Limiting Diagnosis, Terminating For Medical Reasons (TFMR) More about Sabrina's Story: Listen as Sabrina shares Clara with us. Sabrina and her husband, Hector, had just gotten married and were actively trying to get pregnant with their second child when they found out they were expecting. In their second trimester, they were told their baby had hydrops, a condition in which...

Listen as Tracy and Julie chat with our very own Meghan Slater, Emma's Bereavement Coordinator, and an L&D Nurse for a local hospital in Erie, PA. They dive deep into answering some of our nurses' most pressing questions about how to navigate a loss with their patients. More about Meghan: Meghan’s grief story started when she lost her first pregnancy in October 2014. After almost 2 yea...

In this episode, Tracy and Julie talk with loss mamas Ashley, Stacy, and Jessica about Mother's Day and how it changes after a loss. We dive deep into the feelings of being a Mother and how that feels even though our children may not be here with us. We wish you a gentle Mother's Day this year.

Type of Loss: Early Term Loss More about Stacey's Story: After years of trying to conceive, Stacey and her husband, Brandon, decided to foster to adopt in which they were blessed with 6 children. They still had a strong desire to conceive, they turned to IVF, and had a successful pregnancy with their son Owen. They had one more embryo and decided to transfer their sweet girl, Vivian. All was g...

Type of Loss: Early Term Loss, Multiple Losses, Stillbirth More about Samantha's Story: Listen as Samantha shares her sweet babies Baby Lohrman and Avonlea with us. Samantha and her husband, CJ, were ecstatic when they found out they were expecting their first baby in 2021. Unfortunately, that excitement turned to sorrow when they were told at their first doctors appointment their baby didn&#3...

Type of Loss: Early Term Loss, Multiple Losses, Terminating for Medical Reasons More about Carmen's Story: Buckle up for this episode as Carmen shares her 11 beautiful babies with us. In this episode, she she dives deep into her pregnancies, grief and how she turned her pain into purpose. Carmen wrote A Diary to My Babies: Journeying Through Pregnancy Loss to shine light on the darkness of pre...