Well, my friends, this week has brought on so many emotions and lessons, grief and hope, moments of gratefulness, and also ones of deep sadness. There are a million words I could say, but not one that I can think of that really says how I feel. I know so many of you are concerned for us, and have been praying for us, and for that we absolutely can not thank you enough. We have received cards and messages of condolences from people we don't even know offering their love and support to our family. We know that our Lord has surrounded us with such loving and caring people so that we can hold onto them, and pull from their love and strength at a time when we need it most. For that, we are so grateful.
As we went through this week, Jeremy and I learned about a few things that we were never aware of, and I feel like it's important that we share.
We spent most of the day on Thursday at Aultman Hospital while I was prepped to have a D&C performed. Like most hospital stays, it was a revolving door of nurses and doctors all with the same questions for me. They were extremely nice to me, and all offered their sympathies, and a few even shared their own stories of loss. All the questions seemed pretty routine.. except for one.
"What would you like to do with the remains of your baby after the D&C is done today Crystal?", the nurse asked me. "....Oh..umm..I'm very sorry, I hadn't thought about that...we didn't make arrangements..we didn't talk about this...I didn't know..", I responded. Jeremy and I were beyond overwhelmed by that question. It all happened so quickly that we hadn't even thought about where our baby's resting place would be.
The nurse went on to tell us about our options. Options we didn't know we had. Options we didn't know we needed to make decisions about. Options that were free to us. Options that made it easier, and made the load lighter. Options that I am so grateful that someone at Aultman stepped up and realized that the babies that leave us too soon deserve to have a special place to be as well.
Aultman hospital has a program where they will pay for the cremation of the baby, and will give the baby a final resting place at Forest Hill Cemetery on a plot that they have purchased especially for the babies that have left us too soon. They have a ceremony every year to remember these precious little ones, and all the parents (and families) are welcome to attend. All of this, at no cost to the family. While our minds were eased to know that something like this is in place for families that need it, Jeremy and I were able to have our baby cremated at Reed Funeral Home (Reed also does this for free), and we will be able to put our baby at our church cemetery.
So, why am I telling you this? A few reasons actually. I have to think that many of you are unaware that there are even programs that provide these types of things for families. I hope by sharing, maybe one of you may be able to help someone you know sometime along the way. Also, so many of you have asked what you can do for us. The truth of the matter is that there is really not anything you can do except pray. However, if you feel like you need to do something, Aultman Hospital runs this program that they provide for families just like ours widely based on donations from the community. We were overwhelmed by the option they were able to provide for us in the plot that they have, and really having all of the work already done for us. If you are ever so inclined to donate to this cause, I can tell you that there are so many families just like ours who would be so grateful.
To make a donation, you can go to:
http:http://www.aultmanfoundation.org/donating/waystogive/donationform.aspx
You can target your donation to: Pregnancy and Infant Loss
Many blessings to you all, we love you so much, and we could not have gotten through this week (or the weeks to come) without you. <3
