Babyloss mums: What resources helped you most????

I've been offline the last little bit because I've got a lot of work writing and editing for people at the moment. Juggle, juggle.

My reward, when I get through my deadlines, will be catching up on the blogs. But till then I think of so many of you so many times throughout my day. If thoughts were worth currency, we'd all be rich.

I'm going to the first meeting of a support group this week that is newly founded by a woman here in the city (we moved to this city at the end of June 2009). All summer I hoped to find some sort of local resource and didn't. A few weeks ago the staff at Family Services playgroup handed me a pamphlet announcing this bereaved mother's new group and I called immediately to RSVP. She lost her baby boy in May 2009 as well.

The day after I connected with Kim about her mother-to-mother support group I met a mother who was carrying a baby boy with Trisomy 18; our daughters were playing in the playground and we ended up talking (Me thinking, don't talk about the dead baby! Don't mention George to this very pregnant mother!) and it turns out she shared with me that her baby had a fatal diagnosis. And of course I talked with her about George. We cried together and talked a lot.

Providence for both of us we decided.

The first meeting is tomorrow night (Monday night). We will be a small group of newly bereaved mothers. There is another mother who is carrying a Trisomy 18 baby as well. So it would be really nice to hear from any of you mothers who have walked that path already.

Any advice, links, and resources you'd like to share with me via my blog would be so appreciated because I'll share with the women who are at the group tomorrow night and then they can meet some other bereaved mothers online and learn from your experiences about what's out there that might be meaningful to them.

I learned of one last week from a friend I made here who sadly just miscarried her second baby at about 13 weeks into her pregnancy. She found out about The Church of the Holy Innocents in downtown New York City. This Catholic church was founded in 1868 and is located near Times/Herald Square and the busy business district. It is known as the "Actors' Church." I remember seeing it when a girlfriend and I were in the Big Apple and it's amazing to me how special it is to me now.

Bereaved parents are invited to have their baby's (or babies) names inscribed in their Book of Life, which is kept in a special area in memory of the holy innocents. A candle is always lit in memory of babies who have died before or at birth and people pray there all day long. On the first Monday of every month the church's 12:15p.m. service is celebrated in honour of deceased babies and for the comfort of their families.

To read more about this church and its beautiful ministry to remember deceased babies and comfort their families, link here. You can opt to receive a Certificate of Life with your child's name on it by email. I heard from the priest within 12 hours and he sent me a very kind and compassionate email.

I'm so relieved to find out about this local support group, but sad at the same time. It seems wrong to be so happy to go meet other grieving mothers tomorrow night. But I am in a conflicted sort of way. I really am.