Most people know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But what most don't know, is it is Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month too. Statistics show that one in four pregnancy end in loss. I am one of those 4, 7 times over. We have lost 6 children to miscarriage over the years. We have also lost our Jacob. There is no pain like that of losing your child. This is such a taboo subject, but that needs to change. Mothers need to talk about their children: ALL of them! Women need to be aware that, unfortunately, this is very common. They need to know they are not alone. If we cared as much about these infants as we did about boobies, we would be able to save so many lives. Don't get me wrong, I am all for supporting breast cancer and those who are fighting it. But a big part of women's health is mental. What about all the women who are secretly suffering the lose of a child and feel like they are alone. We need to get these subject out there, so people feel comfortable expressing their pain. I will never not mention Jacob. He will never be forgotten, and if it makes someone else uncomfortable, shame on them! Mamas, talk about your babies. Don't let society make you feel like you cannot mention the life, no matter how short it was, of your sweet little angel.
October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, where we are asked to light a candle at 7pm, local time, and keep it burning for one hour. As each time zone does this, we create a wave of Light around the World, to honor all those gone to soon. This year, I sat down with my children, and explained to them why we were lighting a candle for Jacob. We talked about what it would be like to have him here, and what we thought he was doing up in Heaven. We talked about what we missed, and what we wished would have been reality. I know right now, my children may not understand it, but I want them to know their brother, and know how much we loved him. We will light a candle for Jacob and all the other babies every year on October 15th, and I ask that next October, don't forget the babies, when everyone else is focused on the boobies!
Happy Halloween from our little Pumpkin! I will admit this is a bittersweet day for me. This is Juliet's last First Holiday! This time last year, I was waiting patiently for my older three to come up and go trick or treating at the hospital! (They came up and handed out candy to all the nurses stations). Little did we know, we would be welcome Jacob and Juliet into this world just 6 short days later. Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween and stay safe!
Through this trial, I have made some wonderful friends who are so supportive. For Juliet's first Birthday, a few of them sent her a onesie that reads "My Twin Brother SAVED My Life", with matching socks. It is adorable and a wonderful way to remember Jacob, and what he did. I will be forever thankful to my amazing son who brought me his sister. I am also so thankful for the wonderful, strong, Christian women God has placed in my life through this trial. I pray one day to meet in person and get our miracle babies together!
YAY! Juliet is officially off all medication for her re-flux! We were told she would grow out of it, but we didn't expect that until well after her 1st birthday! So excited to be done with one more doctor visit and one less thing we have to monitor.
Eleven Months!!! AHHHH!! We have had a great month with lots going on. Juliet has made some huge improvements this month in every aspect of her development. She has started talking more and more. Juliet loves to blow raspberries and say "oooo". She will say baba and dada too. She has been working hard on her crawling with Kelli, and we are almost there. Just working on getting her core stronger. She is also able to pull up and stand if she has something to hold onto.
Juliet has had 3 teeth break through this month as well! She has been eating like a piggy and loves her food! She is up to eating cheerios, gold fish, and her favorite is baked beans. She is so cute. She will sit and pound on her hands on her table when she wants more. (she is going to be trouble as she gets older!) She is sitting on her own and loves to play with her toys. Although, her favorite toy is the dogs ball. She will crawl over and steal it from him and he just sits and watches, throwing me a few glancing making sure I know she took it from him. We have such an awesome dog! haha. Juliet loves to swing, bounce, and really move any way she can! Juliet is doing amazing and we are so blessed. We are looking forward to celebrated Jacob's and Julie'ts first birthday in a few days. What a year it has been for our family. We are so blessed and love every moment we have with our babies.
