Missing the Future

As bereaved parents, we often feel like no one realizes how much we miss out on when our baby dies. The milestones, the “firsts”, all of those precious memories we wanted to create are ripped away. The minute you take a pregnancy test or receive a phone call to confirm you're expecting, you can't help but imagine a future with that child. Creating a list of names in your mind, browsing through the baby aisle at Target just to take a peek at all the cute clothes, wondering which features they will inherit from you. 

The first word they speak, their first steps, the first day of kindergarten...how can you not think of those special moments immediately? Some parents even think farther ahead with high school graduation and walking their daughter down the aisle or dancing with their son at their wedding. In just a few moments' time, you are imagining an entire lifetime with someone you haven't even met yet.

It's absolutely incredible how your heart starts to swell immediately with all the newfound love for your baby. It's a parent's instinct to care for their baby, to teach their baby, to love their baby. That instinct is engrained from the very beginning, before we even truly know who that baby is. 

We didn’t just lose a pregnancy.
We didn’t just lose a baby.
We lost an entire future of hopes and dreams.