Capture Your Grief Day 31

Day 31: Sunset

This is a photo of the sunset on my due date, May 26th 2012. We were on vacation in Desert Aire, WA USA. Capture Your Grief has been a very helpful yet bittersweet experience. It has helped me work through some things, let me share Sophie will all of you, and yet is leaving me sad... I don't know what I'm going to do without this... it kept me busy, and kept me focused. This has allowed me to put together a sort of "memory album." Thank you to all of you for sharing  your stories and photos of your angels, and thank you for your kind words about our Sophie Abigail... and thank you Carly Marie for your inspiration.

Capture Your Grief Day 30

Day 30: My Grief
I layered some of my feelings and thoughts over the only part of Sophie's room we finished before we lost her...

Capture Your Grief Day 29

Day 29: Music
Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

Capture Your Grief Day 28

Day 28: Memory

This was a very difficult topic for me. There are too many sad memories and I wanted to remember something positive today. I chose our first Ultrasound from October of last year. I was 9 weeks and 6 days pregnant. We were so excited to see our baby for the first time! The tech did all the measurements and took photos of things we couldn't even tell what they were. She loaded a short video of the heartbeat onto a DVD for us to keep (which at the time, I didn't realize how precious this would be to have...). I watch it frequently and think, her heart was functioning so perfectly back then! We shared our news with everyone that same day, we were so excited and couldn't wait anymore... This was the one and only Ultrasound that we didn't leave in tears or complete fear. I know that what we have been through will cause us to be scared and nervous for the next one, and I am mad that the "innocence" of pregnancy has been taken away from us... I still hold onto this memory as something positive to think about, and in hopes that I will feel that way someday.

Capture Your Grief Day 27

Day 27: Artwork

This is a painting that our amazing Sister-In-Law, Carissa, painted for Sophie. When we found out the diagnosis of Sophie's heart, she put together a fundraiser for her which raised a lot of money and awareness... This painting was an incentive for donating, and copies went out as a thank you to donors. We cannot thank Carissa enough for her help through all of this, and this painting reminds us of all the love that is and will always be had for our baby girl...

Capture Your Grief Day 26

Day 26: Her Age

Capture Your Grief Day 25

Day 25: Baby Shower

My husband's work hosted a double baby shower for my sister and I since we were both pregnant at the same time. This was a couple months before we lost Sophie, but at this time we were still hoping for a miracle and planning for life after bringing her home... These are photos of the gifts we received and never got to use... we stocked up on diapers, never used one. We received baby clothes that Sophie's Cousin wore when she was a baby. We washed everything and put each item away in her brand new dresser. We had the nursery planned out, where everything would go... I couldn't even look in that room for months after we lost her, but finally I was able to bring myself to pack up the visible items from the closet and the gifts in the room. The clothes from Sophie's cousin are still in her dresser  because Nate and I aren't ready to go through them, and the blanket and items from the hospital are still hidden away...