Female Voices: Life and Loss

(Part 2 of 2) Lisa Colon shared in last week's episode her high risk first pregnancy and the loss of her daughter Gracie at 5 1/2 months. In this episode she talks more in-depth about how she handled the grief of losing her daughter. One thing she did right away was quit her job. She said I didn't want coworkers to ask me questions about Gracie. She started a new job within weeks and heade...

This is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Lisa Colon . Lisa shared about her first pregnancy which was very unique in the fact that she had a 2-vessel cord which I have researched and found is very rare, it happens in 1 to 1.5 % of pregnancy. She was told there should be no complications with the 2 vessel cords. Her son was delivered by an urgent C-section, he was a very small healthy baby. With h...

Grief Coach Teresa Reiniger shared about how and why clients struggle with grief. Everyone's grief is different, and I want to give people a better understanding of grief so we can truly love people through their darkest days of grief. * You feel grief because you have loved * There is no time limit on your grief. It will be with you for the rest of your life * Others want to help and fix you...

This is previously released episode #19. In this episode Candace talked about the grief and trauma she and her husband endured during their two losses and then secondary infertility. With the first early loss they just tried to move on, which didn't help with their healing. She questioned why after the second loss?  Candace talked about the grief and trauma that pulled her and her husband apar...

Dawn Amsden Stark is an inspirational author, public speaker, and passionate advocate. Dawn’s 23-year infertility journey which included seven IVFs, two high-risk pregnancies (including a set of twins), and two international adoptions fundamentally transformed her life and faith. She volunteers at her church and in her community to support women walking through infertility or parenting after infer...

Jill said that she knew intuitively from a very young age that she would have to adopt or would have trouble having her own children and she was correct. She shared that at age 29 is when she and her husband began to focus on having a family. It was discovered that they had both female and male infertility issues so IUI was the best option to start with. Her fertility doctor would only do 5 rounds...

Teresa reflects on 2021 and is looking forward to 2022 with all of you. Every guest, no matter where they live in the world have the same passion and desire to spread awareness about infertility and baby loss. Educating society with a better understanding of how to listen compassionately to those that have experienced infertility in any way and also those that have loved a baby that has been lost,...

Kaci always wanted 2 or 3 children , after having no trouble getting pregnant and having her daughter, it had never entered her mind that she would have such a long journey of infertility.  With 4 rounds of IUI's, 2 IVF cycles and 2 baby girls lost after hearing their heartbeat, Kaci and her husband are not ready to give up yet. They are preparing for another IVF cycle at the beginning of 2022...

Melissa Brenner said I thought my friends and I would raise our babies together. All of them were having babies so the question I asked the doctor was. "What is wrong with me"?  We tried clomid for 6 months, even though it made me feel angry. We tried IUI, IUI with donor sperm, IUI with injectables, IVF and heard the same words, I wish I had better news. These were hard words to hear eve...

Rachel Helden didn't picture herself as a mom because as a teenager she was told she had PCOS and endometriosis, so she kind of ruled out having children since she thought it wouldn't be possible. She didn't want to get her hopes up until she became pregnant, and the excitement ended with a misarrange. After a divorce she met, who she said was the right man and partner to have children...

Suggestions for the Holiday Season to navigate your feelings of Grief: * Be Compassionate with Yourself:  During the holidays our schedules change. Schedule downtime to take a walk, meditation, prayer, read, journal etc. Be aware of your physical and psychological limitations. Limit necessary stress * Talk with a Family member or Friend ahead of time:  Express your concerns. Decide ahead of time w...

Heather Midgley is a mental health specialist, she recognized that there was a gap in supporting women when they were experiencing difficulty with conception, during pregnancy, infant loss, and postpartum issues. This became more important to her when she experienced her own struggles with recurrent miscarriages and navigated through IVF. She believes that through her own struggles and losses, it...

Kristen Rademacher delivered her stillborn daughter at 41 weeks . Her recently published debut memoir is an intimate exploration of the unique grief she faced when her baby was born still.   From the Lake House: A Mother’s Odyssey of Loss and Love, has been described as “achingly honest”, “beautifully written” and “poignant”.   She shared about not feeling her baby move, she drink orange juice and...

Dr. Erica Rozmid is a Clinical Psychologist specializing in evidenced based treatment, including CBT and DBT. After her own heartbreaking story of learning that her very wanted baby, Shayla, had brain abnormalities and was not developing properly in utero, Erica made the decision to terminate her pregnancy for medical reasons.  She was disappointed by the lack of mental health resources and suppor...

Womb Prep was founded by Geri Alicea in January 2016. Being on a Journey to Motherhood herself, Geri knew firsthand what it was like to feel completely alone while going through one of the worst situations in her life. Around this time, Geri experienced a season of depression and one day she decided to study women in the bible who had trouble conceiving just like her. And because she didn't wa...

Elizabeth remembers having symptoms at a very early age that were dismissed by medical professionals. Her symptoms just continued to get worse as she got older, abdominal pain, heavy and painful periods, migraines, fatigue and chronic pain. She was diagnosed with infertility and later became pregnant on her own. While pregnant she continued to bleed which meant multiple hospital visits. She went i...

Jessica volunteers for an organization called On Angels Wings . Their mission is to seek to improve the mental health and wellness of families with medically fragile children through therapeutic photography and grief recovery services. It is an amazing organization where photographers volunteer to go into hospitals to take complementary photos for families that have lost a baby and they also go to...

Kiley Hanish's husband, a filmmaker, decided to write a fictional script about their son Norbert who was stillborn to help with his healing of grief and to break the silence. They had been very private about their loss for 9 years, people do not talk about the death of a baby and it is very isolating. The release of the film introduced them into the baby loss community where they found there w...

Kiley Hanish planned to have a home birth but after not feeling well at 35 weeks and having some bleeding she went to the doctors office to be checked. She was told I can't find the heartbeat. She was by herself and in total shock and she said all I remember saying is "What am I supposed to do" and the doctor said maybe you should cry. Her traumatic experience was intensified due to...

Breaking the silence and spreading awareness. It is October and it is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month. The moment a woman knows that she is pregnant the love and the dreams for that child have begun. When that child is lost all the joy, love and dreams are gone. The devastation, heartache and grief are real. Which is why I chose to create this place where women and men could have a voice...

Liane Moccia is a Registered Clinical Herbalist who helps women and men take charge of their fertility, prepare for pregnancy, balance hormones, and manage stress. Liane’s own infertility diagnosis led her to the healing power of plants and ultimately a career change to help others on similar journeys. She works to help women and men advocate for their own health. As a Clinical Herbalist she looks...

Ann-Marie Ferry is a writer from the Midwest. She holds a BSN. Ann-Marie is wife of 10 years to Jon, the man she met online, and mother to their four children: three daughters on earth and a son in heaven. Ann-Marie’s writing reflects on her experience with high-risk pregnancy and stillbirth through the lens of faith, shining the light of hope on grief. During our conversation Ann-Marie talked abo...

Dawn Waymire shared a tremendous amount of information to help you navigate the adoption process, if that is what you have decided for your family or if you seeking more information before making a decision.  She talked about why her and her husband chose the adoption route after losing their little girl and a failed IVF. She talked in depth about the mental difficulty she went through with infert...

Adam and his wife Erica struggled with infertility for fifteen months . Adam did not anticipate having to go through testing himself when they weren't getting pregnant. It became harder and harder with each month and they were planning their days around ovulation. They decided to keep the struggles to themselves because they did not want to add the extra pressure of the parents and others gett...

Rachael is still on her journey of infertility . She has had 4 miscarriages and has gone through 3 IUI cycles. With her first pregnancy she was very excited to share the news. When she had the miscarriage she received some great support and some negative comments that hit her hard enough to discourage her from sharing the next 3 losses. After being married for several years and the multiple losses...