Idea under consideration...

Here is something I am considering but haven't decided on yet and I want your opinion:

Background unless you're familiar with my personal blog: I crochet "cross" blankets in a few patterns to sell. They're typically used for baptismal blankets but not limited to that. Sometime last year I made a tiny cross blanket for someone who had been longing for one but had lost her baby to miscarriage. She loved it (it was something tangible) and later I made one for someone else. I've made a few of these now (sadly, one for me) and have never sold them, considering it a blessing to send to someone.

One woman overseas wanted to make her baby a blanket but found out the baby had a terminal illness and might not even live long enough to be born. I didn't have a pattern, but sent her photographs and what instructions I could. As it turned out, she was able to make her baby a cross blanket, finishing it just in time to be able to wrap up her baby when she was born. She buried the baby with that blanket but made a smaller one for herself to keep (kind of like the small ones I had been making). She noted that it felt good to be able to do something for her baby since she would not be able to do any of the traditional things.

I am considering writing out a pattern for one of the little cross blankets and posting it on the Resources page. Then people could make them for themselves or for friends or family. The only stipulation would be that they could not be sold. Any thoughts?

Announcements

Your Stories: Thanks to Laura for sharing her story with us.

Practical Q and A: Some more questions and answers have been added. Please feel free to comment (or email) and let me know if there are questions you want answered or would like to see addressed on that page even if you know the answer. Also feel free to make any suggestions about the answers that are already posted.

Thanks to Sh. Patty for mentioning Lost Innocents on her blog, Sibling Revelries. Sh. Patty's story can be found on both the Touchstone article and in the Stories section.

And also thanks to all those of you who have posted the Lost Innocents button on your blogs!

Not done, but getting there...

The Actual Process:
Everything except the management of ectopic pregnancy is completed now. If you see something wildly off or have a suggestion to make, please feel free to let me know. I am by no means infallible. [Ectopic pregnancy with medical and surgical management is now included so this section is complete.]

Photographs:
Thanks to the additional women who have graciously allowed me to post their children's photographs and in some cases links to their stories. You are helping other women, I assure you. I am still looking for photographs so contact me if you are able to help here.

Your Stories and Prayers and Liturgics:
Some more stories have been posted and an additional link to photos and descriptions of a burial. I am giving basic descriptions of the stories under the links so they will be easier to navigate.

Amanda has graciously featured Lost Innocents on her blog, This Girl Will Never be the Same. She has a history of two losses and photographs of her sons Rowan and Levi can be found on the Photographs page. Glory to God, Amanda is currently 28 weeks pregnant and our prayers are with her.

New page

Thanks to Sh. Patty who submitted it (and obtained the necessary permissions) I have posted an article from Touchstone Magazine. For Words at a Loss: the Church's Response to Miscarriage and Stillbirth Needs More Work was written in part by Sh. Patty along with her husband and her father. I tried to extract the best parts, but decided in the end to post it in its entirety. I encourage you to read it. Thank you, Sh. Patty for sharing this with us.

More Updates

More photographs have been added to that page. I am having to fill in the many blanks with stock photos but I hope to replace them as time goes on with "real" photos. This page is not finished yet - it can be difficult for me to do that much at a time.

A discussion on the eternal destination of unbaptized babies has been added to the "Prayers and Liturgics" page. It's very good.

I retitled "Natural Miscarriage" as "The Actual Process" because I am including information on all of the methods of managing miscarriage. I have added D&C information. Still to come: medical management and laparoscopy for ectopic pregnancy and a "which to choose?" section.

Button

As I mentioned last night, I did add a substantial section to the "Natural Miscarriage" page. This is by no means done, but it is a big step.

Also, a button has been created for "Lost Innocents". It is on the side bar and has HTML text below in case anyone wants to grab it.

Just to let everyone know, this has been a difficult work at times and I sincerely appreciate all of the encouragement I have received. If this site helps only a handful of people, it will have been worth it. Thank you.

Site Updates

Photographs: I have added some more photographs which people have kindly let me use. I am having trouble finding natural (read: nice) photographs of babies at quite a few of the gestational ages. If you know of any photographs or have any photographs that fit this description, please consider allowing them to be posted on this page. I know these are of an extremely personal and usually private nature, but providing these photographs may prevent women from being confronted with abortion photographs at a devastating time when they are only trying to find out what their baby will look like.

Natural Miscarriage: I still haven't done much to support the actual title of the page! Still, I have added a list and explanation of terms related to miscarriage. Next to come will be descriptions of various management techniques and then a section on natural miscarriage: what to expect, how to prepare, what to do. This is a fairly extensive section and I'm trying to put up information in complete sections so there is less chance of someone coming away misinformed. [Update - I've just posted a large section about managing miscarriage at home. Still need to include medical and surgical management of miscarriage.]

Prayer and Liturgical: I adjusted the title of this page to more accurately reflect the contents. I will be adding some discussion by Fr. David Moser about the eternal destination of unborn (and thus unbaptized) babies that was sent to me. It is among the best I have ever read.

There are some minor additions on a few other pages. There will be more personal stories coming soon as well. As these are added, I will update the blog portion of the site.