Interlude, Part 2

My name is Heather.  I am 31 years old, I love to bake, love to laugh, love to travel and I am wife to a wonderful man that I have dated since I was 16 and mom to a sweet, funny 3 year old son.  On December 17th I also found myself as mother to a beautiful stillborn daughter named Charlotte Kathryn (or CK for short).  I like to think that she was too perfect for this world because without any type of reasoning, I can’t wrap my head around it (still can’t) and it would be a lot harder for me to go on breathing every day.

I have found myself quickly “one of those moms” that pregnant people  and anyone else with children talk about in hushed tones and don’t really think about for fear that whatever those undeserving women did (i.e. me) won’t rub off on them.  My own family doesn’t really know what to do with me and that terrifies me.  Many of my “friends” have already stopped checking in and my always optimistic, bright and shiny personality has lost part of its sheen.  There is a chink in my heart that will never be filled even if we were to have a dozen more children.  I am scared to death about ever trying to get pregnant again because I was a basket case this time and will probably need to be sedated for 9 months if we tried this again.

I never wanted to start this blog and despite being a hypochondriac and one that always assumes the worst, I would have never in my life imagined that I would be a part of this statistic.  This is still new to me, I still have signs and symptoms of pregnancy, but I have already learned that I would never wish this on my worst enemies.  Babies are supposed to inspire hope, new beginnings and life, not death.

I am starting this blog for me (I think).  I have had a lot of time to do some real hard thinking.  It has only been a little over two weeks since I started it, but it feels like an eternity.  Sleepless nights, the holidays when I’m not in the mood for celebrating, and several nights in the hospital will do that to a person.  Writing is cathartic for me and this will keep the memory of Charlotte alive as long as the Internet is in existence.  I’m not going to promise that this will be a fun or optimistic blog, but I hope to heal every day and maybe get back to my old self (or as close as I can get to it) soon.  Some of the posts will be hard to write, harder to read and I’m sure I will make some people mad, but I’m quickly learning that life isn’t perfect and this blog won’t be either.  I may repeat myself.  Some posts will be long, some will be short, and all of them will be brutally honest, but I hope with every word I write, I can bring Charlotte and my experience to life and maybe, just maybe, help someone else going through this.  At the very least, I hope it helps me.

I will be taking a break from Beach Tink for a while.  I promise I will return one day with funny stories, good recipes and the optimism you’re used to.  Until then, feel free to follow me at my new blog (www.lifewithoutck.wordpress.com) or at the very least, send someone suffering with pregnancy loss my way so they can see that what they are feeling is completely normal.  Maybe they can help me, too.