Pregnacy and Infant Loss 2012

The loss of a pregnacy is the loss of a dream...regardless on how many months, days, hours or even minutes you have known there is a life growing inside you.  The dream has begun the moment you see those two lines, you hear those words you have waited so long to hear, you shared the news with those who are the closest. When it all too soon becomes a nightmare that you wish you could wake up from it becomes a memory you never forget.  It clouds your bliss should you ever be fortunate enough to become pregnant again.  It has you waiting for the other shoe to drop your entire pregnancy.  It keeps you from fully enjoying subsequent pregnancies.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is a day of remembrance for pregnancy loss and infant death which includes but is not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or the death of a newborn. It is observed annually in the United States on October 15th. This day is observed with remembrance ceremonies and candle-lighting vigils, concluding with the International Wave of Light, a worldwide lighting of candles at 7:00 p.m.   In October 1988, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed October to be National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month stating "When a child loses a parent they are called an orphan.  When a spouse loses his or her partner they are called a widow or widower.  When a parent loses their child , there isn't a word to describe them.  This month recognizes the loss so many parents experience across the United States and throughout the World.  This is also meant to inform and provide resources for parents who have lost children due to miscarriage, etopic pregnancies, molor pregnancy, stillbirth, birth defects, SIDS and other causes."

According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, among women who already know they are pregnant, nearly 15 percent will have a miscarriage. Stillbirths occur in nearly one in 200 pregnancies in the United States every year. Premature birth occurs in between 8 percent to 10 percent of all pregnancies in the United States; it remains one of the topcauses of infant death in this country. SIDS is the cause of about 2,500 infant deaths each year.

Today we are not only mourning the loss of many of our own dreams but also the loss many of our friends have experienced.  They may be gone but never forgotten!

An Angel In The Book Of Life
Wrote Down My Baby's Birth
And Whispered As She Closed The Book
"to Beautiful For Earth"