Hidden emotions ~My journey through grief

Sometimes it's hard to understand the link to our emotions to how we project ourselves, behind these eyes are tears and behind my tears is a sense of emptiness and defeat that sometimes my emotions get the better of me, that weak moment behind closed doors I am broken, broken to the understanding that I could not save our daughter, but behind all of these emotions is a sense of calm, why? Because I am a mother, a mother to our son, and a mother to our beautiful angel Isabella, you never get over grief and please do not tell anyone you do, your whole life will change, there will not be a day that goes by without the thought of your most dearest loss, but there is light, light that shines on you and your family, light that makes you realise how precious life really is and light that brings you memories no matter how short of time you had with them. We are all in this together, let's all support each other in our dark hours and make memories in our light hours #supportgriefawareness #mothertoanangel #chdawareness #heartwarrior

New year, New chapter 2018

Another year nearly down and ready for the next chapter in our lives, ready for the new year to make more amazing memories with my close friends and family and ready to learn more life lessons. Never a day goes by without remembering those precious moments with my amazing daughter who is always in my heart, still feels like it was only yesterday she was in my arms, and my dear grandad who I miss dearly. I've learned soo much this past year and embrace each day I have with my loved ones, feel incredibly lucky to have Kevin always by my side and Keelan who always wakes up with a smile on his face, I feel blessed to have my mum and nan and all our family and friends who support us in each and every way. Blessing all our angels in heaven and blessing you all for health, friendship, and love for 2018 and for ever more. Xxx

Equal access to standardized ultrasound services to be implemented throughout all maternity units

I am delighted to announce that since our campaign started for the right of all expectant mothers to be given routine detailed screening, we are finally seeing progress made. Minister for Health Simon Harris emailed me today confirming that the HSE National Service Plan 2016 committed to the planning and development of equitable access to antenatal anomaly screening throughout all maternity units in the context of emerging maternity networks.

In addition, the National Maternity Strategy is now clear that all women must and will have equal access to standardized ultrasound services. This strategy will be implemented on a phased basis over the coming years which will be led by the National Women & Infants Health Programme.

The newly appointed Director will be meeting with me in due course to discuss the strategy going forward, in this meeting I will be also highlighting the after care service for families who suffer loss of their baby, which through our own experience is seriously neglected.

Words cannot describe how we are feeling now, from such a dark and sad time in our lives our beautiful daughter shed some light from heaven, I knew in my heart she was sent here for a reason, I am so proud of our angel. Our campaign was never darkened around negativity, through our experience we saw a fault in the health care of maternity services and in our daughters memory we simply did not want anyone else to go through what we and many other families have gone through. I have always said that we wanted to work alongside the HSE and not against it and now they have started to implement a plan for all expectant mothers to receive routine anomaly screening nationwide so if anything has been detected proper procedures can be put in place before birth giving all babies a fighting chance.

I am blown away from all the support we have received since Isabella was born and when she grew her wings, I am so proud to be her mum, she is around us always and throughout our campaign this miracle has just proved it.

I will keep you all updated on further progress as this is only the beginning. 

Mother to an angel 

xoxox

The months after is when you need support the most

I know it has been a while since my last post, but I don’t want to just write every week, this is a real life journey and I only write when I feel it is the right time to share  my recent experiences I’ve had while living life after great loss.

Everyday life since losing Isabella has changed, small things you don’t notice during your daily routines all of a sudden becomes a big deal, at one point I felt every time I left the house all I would see is babies and baby stuff everywhere; my anxiety grew so much I just wanted to stay at home all the time, my house became my sanctuary for me, my haven, my own space to lock myself away from society, I would always say to myself, ‘how and when will I start to cope’.

(In recent months i’ve found grief is truly like the ocean, it comes in waves and sometimes can consume you when you least expect it, don’t fight your emotions, roll with them like those waves, the more you fight and hold back the worse you will feel to which point you may sink into the deep dark obis of depression.)

I wake up every day to my routines of life itself, then all of a sudden it just hits me that I lost my daughter and will never be able to hold her in my arms again, it really does consume me at different times of the day but I am still learning to remind myself of the fact we had the chance to look into her beautiful eyes, while she stared right back at us knowing that she was loved unconditionally, these thoughts are what keeps me looking forward.

The support we had after Isabella was born and when she grew her wings was just amazing, our close friends and family helped organise her burial and really showed so much love and light during a time of such darkness. The following weeks we had people calling to our house on a daily basis which kept us going but looking back now I can see that it hadn’t sunk in still, we were numb, in shock, I knew what had happened but I hadn’t processed the fact that we have lost our baby girl. I do think that if it wasn’t for Keelan I could have sunk much lower, but this is a point you feel you’re at a cross roads and must try your best to continue on and learn to live your life after such a loss. I remember so clearly waking up the following morning after our final goodbye, the sun was shining so bright through our curtains, we just laid there in silence, in a state of shock not knowing what to do with ourselves, the door bell rang constantly by people calling to us, and at the time I just wanted to be left alone, but I got up as I did not want to look weak and then dived into washing all our clothes from Dublin, I washed the same clothes 2 or 3 times just to keep myself busy, as crazy as it sounds thinking about it now I just wanted to feel human again, I was trying to imagine that I would be doing this if she was still there and asleep in her mosses basket, I just wanted to feel like a mother to a new born baby while trying to block out the pain in case I fell apart even though inside I was broken, empty and felt useless.

I have come to the realization that support is needed more than ever months after losing a loved one, most people would presume as months have passed you start to learn how to cope, as they say ‘time is a great healer’ which it is very true however, emotions would start to sink in during the later stages of grief, when your days quieter down and people stop calling as much, this is when you have more time to think to yourself about what has happened, this is the crucial time you will need support.

I am so thankful for my group of close friends who have been travelling this journey alongside me, who knows when I am having a bad day or week, who would call for a cup of tea to talk about everything and listen to me, or just sit there in silence with me just so I feel their company there with me, letting me know I am not alone. I feel it is very important to share this if you know someone who is currently grieving that support is very much needed when months have passed, whether it’s a call, a text or just passing through for tea anything just to show that someone is still thinking of you would mean the absolute world, I know this because it means everything to me and has helped me get through the dark days.

If you are the one going through the pain of loss you must keep talking and if you need someone to listen to you, you must pick up your phone or call to your friends or families house because talking is key to a healthy mind, remember it’s not getting over something like this it is learning to cope with it, this is what I have learned so far and still have so much to come. 

Thank you to my friends and family xoxox

The journey of a grieving mother

 

‘I am sorry but there is nothing we can do to save your daughter’ these are the words that constantly replay around in my head, visions of me holding her with her big beautiful eyes, remembering every single expression she done while here on earth, from the small lines on her forehead as she looked up at me, to her perfectly shaped little mouth that I used to stroke ever so gently. No one can comprehend the loss of your own child unless they have walked the same path, from witnessing her last breath and yet feeling totally helpless as a parent to save her, something that was my duty, a duty to protect a duty that goes beyond anything else, a duty I feel as a mother failed to do.

Since we found out we were expecting, I made sure that everything I was eating and drinking would benefit our baby, I didn’t smoke or drink, I ate more veg, fruit, salad and drank as much water as I could, I stayed at home most of the time but I was happy, happy to ensure that our baby was safe and everything was going to be perfect.

The day we travelled back to Kerry was the same day we laid our daughter to rest, that very same evening we walked into our house, I remember it was quiet, I walked upstairs and there in front of me was the door for her nursery, untouched, everything in place ready for her, I grabbed my stomach and all of a sudden I felt ‘emptiness’, despair, sadness, failure of a mother, I walked into her room, everything was perfectly placed, her cot, changing station, nappies and baby wipes stocked up, even a towel ready by the side for her first wash, I looked down at my hands and nothing was there only drops of my tears. I sat on the floor and cried so hard it hurt, clenching on her blanket so tight, I held it as if she was there, just trying to see if I could feel like how it should be, am I going mad? No, I just could not register that she was gone and I was to never see her again in this life.  I remember the curtains in her room were open, the stars were so bright that night, I walked to the window and felt a wave of calm that she was there with me watching me through the stars.

During her burial I felt I could not let my true emotion out, if I started to cry I was petrified that I would not stop, I would collapse and not get back up, I have this constant feeling that my body had failed my daughter, that it was my fault she is not here today, the least I could of done was be strong for her before she flew with the angles, just like she was strong for us by giving us time.

It has already been 5 months since we welcomed her here and my heart is still so raw, I feel so much fear as time goes on, as my memories of her become slightly more faded, the emptiness has grown even more while I am here at home, I should have lack of sleep, I should be making bottles and have washing so high I don’t know where to start, but as soon as Keelan has gone to school I am left in the house of silence ... I look around and feel deflated, I try and keep myself busy making sure the house is perfect, washing is done but I find myself looking at the time counting down the hours Keelan will be home, to see his smile again, tell me about his day work together on his homework, then its time to make the dinner, Kevin comes home talks about his day I clean up after dinner, chill out then bedtime and repeat all the above. Being at home alday is a constant reminder of someone precious that I do not have, go for a walk I say, it will do me some good, so I do I start to feel positive again, I am walking taking in the fresh air, I then look ahead and see a lady with a pram, my heart races every time, it’s not their fault but in my mind it brings back the constant reminder of my most biggest loss. 

The eagerness of wanting some normality is taking over, I want to get back into work I am ready and so the job search continues sending CV’s and not hearing back makes me feel even more worthless, the recent loss of my granddad who was such a large factor in my life overwhelms me, is my life ever going to give me a break? I know there is always someone else more worse off but this is my feelings, my emotions and my battle as an angel mum which I think many other angel mums could relate too. I envy those people who have their career, see and talk to different people every single day, I am doing everything I can to get back in to some normality but I have to keep reminding myself that things do take time, grief is a process and I am only at the beginning. I have Keelan to think about my son who is my world, so I must try and pick myself up again and so I am starting tonight by going for a long walk, I now want to focus on getting myself fit agian mind and body, i've got to do this, I will do this and any bumps along the way I will jump over them with pure determination.

This is only the beginning of my journey....

Mother to an angel xox