Why I March

I think we come off as looking judgmental.  Critical.  Like we are condemning those who choose to do it.  We are not.  We are mourning the losses.  So many, it's impossible to place a number.  But that's just they point.  They were so much more than numbers in the first place.  Hence our fight to end this.

I have always been prolife.  Because they are people.  I was taught that truth my whole life.  And I believed it always.  I've never understood how someone can condone abortion.

But then things happened to me.  Things that made me hold and see why abortion is truly wrong.  Three times.  Three times, I've walked through hell to know that each life is precious.  Each life deserves to live.  Deserves to be protected.  That each life is sacred. 

My eldest daughter was born nine months after my husband and I were married.  She was our honeymoon baby.  And she lit up my life.  And also screamed the first five months of her life.  Along with post partum depression, this made me terrified when we received our second positive pregnancy test...three and a half months after she was born.  I was ashamed.  I was embarrassed.  Of what people would think.  The only reason we announced was because someone else began telling others we were pregnant.  We received a lot of comments.  "Get a hobby."  "Do ya'll have a hobby?"  Just as I started to get excited about that baby, just as I put my faith in Jesus that He would give me the grace for Irish twins, the worst happened.  I was thirteen weeks.  And the ultrasound was still.  I saw it immediately.  There was no blipping in that precious child's chest.  My husband missed it. He grew excited, seeing the baby.  I grasped at his chest.  Screaming something was wrong.  He didn't understand.  I was incoherent.  In that moment, we were in two different places.  Two weeks later, we buried John. 

We went on to have two more beautiful girls.  The youngest of which, we nearly didn't bring home.  Her pregnancy was hard and she wasn't growing.  But, praise God, she made it. 

Then, he left for Afghanistan when she was only four months old.  A day after another pregnancy test, I miscarried again.  It would be several years before I could admit that it was a lost baby, not a false positive. 

Months later after he came home, another positive pregnancy test.  Another journey.  We were eighteen weeks.  I felt him getting weaker.  I felt him go quiet.  It was the worst week of my life.  I couldn't get anyone to believe me.  I couldn't get any of the doctors to understand.  Until another quiet ultrasound.  Another silent Doppler.  I went up to labor and deliver, delivered my son, and buried James two weeks later. 

We've been blessed, finally, with a son here.  He's our third boy.  My first son here.  It's weird to have carried seven people.  To have grown seven lives.  And only have four to show for it.  It's saddening.  Something I try not to dwell on. 

But those three I lost, the two I held and buried--they taught me firsthand the beauty, the sacredness of life.  That little one, I call her Josephine, I carried her a week.  But, she was a person.  John--I carried him thirteen weeks.  I felt him kick twice. I felt his life.  And then he was gone.  James--eighteen weeks!  We had our big ultrasound scheduled.  People could see my bump.  I was feeling him kick from the outside!  And then I felt him go.  Slowly.  "I heard he put up a good fight!" The priest said.  I believe he did. 

Every human life matters. 

From conception to natural death. 

I believe this. 

I believe women are shattered by abortion.  Broken.  Where are the pro-choice supporters then?  Where are they when the women sit alone, in darkness, in abject pain?  Where is their "ministry" then? 

Abortion is a disserve, an injustice to women.  To humanity.  It kills people, tiny people, and then walks away.  There is no help when that sweet mama has to deal with the aftermath.  The realization of what has happened. 

It must end.  Abortion must end.  We must realize what we are doing.  The wrong, the evil of killing a human life and shattering a mother. 

Every human life matters.  Every unborn child.  And also every broken mother. 

Speak up, people.  It's time to end this evil.  End abortion. Save humanity.

Elizabeth
John +
Mary
Anne
Josephine +
James +
Joseph

I used to blog all the time. Two to three times per week.  This place was hopping.  And it fulfilled me.  Then, life happened.  (And those numbers have changed, on both sides.) And my blog went silent.  For a long time.  I couldn't write.  I was sad and I was broken.  And I was healing. 

I think a lot.  I'm really good at brooding.  So, as the New Year approached, I thought a lot the last week.  I'm not really one for resolutions.  I end up forgetting about them and then brooding about how I failed again.  But, this year, I want some change.  I need some change.  Spring is full of new life, fresh air.  I need some fresh air in my little corner. We are facing many changes this year.  A move (not sure where yet), along with many other changes--some welcome and some potentially not so welcome ones. So, I've been pondering what sort of changes I'd like to make.

I want to write more.  I love writing.  Conveying emotions and thoughts--it fulfills me.  I used to keep a journal; I'd write several times a week.  I need to start doing that again.  For me.  I want to start blogging again.  Writing and conveying thoughts.  Posting here.  It's time to get things going again. 

I need to start working out again.  My babies are easy on the eyes but not so easy on the waist line.  Time to get active again.  I need to keep up with my girls...and my son who's going to start moving sooner than I'd like to admit. 

I love creating things.  Making things.  Tonight, I went into the kitchen and made pumpkin pie completely from scratch.  Even the pie crust.  For some inexplicable reason, creating things from raw materials is so amazing.  I love to sew and crochet, to bake and cook.  It's an amazing feeling to take rudimentary materials and create something complex from it that can soothe the soul.  A blanket, baby gifts, edible goods.  I need to do that more.  For me. 

I need to spice up my spiritual life.  A prayer journal, reading.  I don't know how to do a prayer journal, so talk me through it if you've done one.  It's intriguing to me. 

I feel like my life, my heart maybe, has been a little house shut up for a long winter.  And spring is coming. Finally.  I feel spring dawning.  And I want to pull out the soft sheets and light blankets and fluff them in the air. Open the windows, prop open the doors.  Let that sweet, life-giving breeze flutter through the house again.  It's time. 

Want to join me?

1 in 4. 

That's the statistic I've seen.  1 in 4.  1 out of every 4 women has experienced pregnancy and/or infant loss. 

How many women do you pass each day? Walking through Target, doing your grocery shopping, milling around the park. 

A lot.

And, supposedly, every fourth woman has gotten a positive pregnancy test, but has no innocent face to show for it.  There's a hole. An unfinished story.  A life that barely started.  And in her heart, there is a raw wound that will never fully heal. 

1 out of every 4 women.

I am the one. 

Thirteen weeks into a surprise pregnancy, I laid back onto the table.  The ultrasound wand searched for the sound.  But there was none.  Where there should have been a wiggly baby, there was a still child.  Too still. My firstborn son was gone.  I grasped at my husband's chest.  And I wept. 

Eighteen weeks into my pregnancy, I was counting down the days until the 20 week ultrasound.  It was scheduled.  I was in maternity clothes and had a beautiful round bump.  Deep down, I knew this one was a boy.  I was thrilled.  One chilly, wet morning in March, I sat on the bed and laid back.  The Doppler wand searched for that sound.  It was silent.  I prayed aloud, begging God in broken sobs, "Please not again.  Please, please not again."  In came the ultrasound.  Where there should have been another wiggling boy, there was a still child.  My second son was gone. 

There was a third child, lost too soon.  Immediately, really.  I never saw her on the ultrasounds.  I hardly knew she was there before she was gone. 

I am the one.  Yet I have broken into a million pieces. 

Somewhere along the roads of grieving each of those lives, there was some sort of silent pat on the head, or not so silent when some told me to just get over it.  A silent pat, and societal pressure to not talk about them.  To not mention they were here and then gone.  People don't talk about miscarriage. We don't talk about stillbirth or infant loss.  We grieve quietly and then pretend to get over it. Like we don't have a raw, beautiful wound for every person we gave up too soon. 

What if I don't want to be quiet?  What if we didn't have to be  quiet? 

John
Josephine
James

"Name him!  Give him a name.  And when you do, please tell me. He was your son. He is your son  I want to do a burial service." And my sweet Irish priest did.  I wept through John's burial service. Out there in the veteran's cemetery in Killeen, standing in that big pavilion with my husband and my daughter, who was much too young to understand what was going on. We stood there, and held each other up alone while we buried our John.  I prayed it wouldn't happen again.

But it did. They came.  That wonderful family came.  The sons carried James's casket.  The daughter sang beside his casket.  And we weren't alone.  Their mother, my dear friend, stood next to me.  Her presence held me up as I buried another son.  I didn't have to be quiet. I didn't have to hide the pain and loss.  Because she wept with me.  So many wept with us. 

I will never know why I've lost three babies.  And I know that I might lose more.  I could bury more of my babies.  But just because I never brought them home, just because their presences are not in my home, does not make them matter any less. My body has nourished seven lives.  I have cradled within me seven people.  I created seven souls.  Three of them sit at the feet of Jesus, praying for me.  I have buried two of them.  I have seen darkness and pain three times.  During one of those times, I saw firsthand the depths to which Christ will go to bring comfort. It's a beautiful testament, and I'd love to share it.  But, at first, I kept quiet about it all.  I had to keep quiet for so long.  Because it was "just a miscarriage."  I was supposed to endure it "silently." 

No.

I've had seven children.  Three aren't here. 

   Elizabeth
+John+
   Mary
   Anne
+Josephine+
+James+
  Joseph

Look at those beautiful names. Of all the accomplishments I've achieved in my life, the greatest are them.  Even the ones you can't see.  I've given life to this world and saints to the next. 

Just like Elizabeth's, Mary's, Anne's, and Joseph's names are spoken within our home, so are John's, James's, and Josephine's.  They are whispered at Mass, they are spoken occasionally within these walls.  Because they were here and they matter. 

All of your babies matter.  All of my babies matter.

All babies matter.

For awhile now, without realizing it, I've been looking at those other moms.  I sometimes find myself thinking about how easy life must be for them.  How relaxing.  How quiet.  Those moms, who have most or all of their kids in school.  My life is anything but calm and quiet.

I have four kids, six and under and I homeschool.  I'm fairly certain that people think I'm crazy for homeschooling...and I am. It's something I wasn't sure I'd do permanently. And I'm grappling with the realization it might end sooner than later.  But, right now, all of my children are home.  All the time. As I watch the school children walk to the bus stop out of my back door every morning, I'm gently reminding mine to go get ready.  Those mothers' houses get quiet and less chaotic, and ours is just getting moreso because of that morning homeschool/baby-filled rush.  As their children board the bus, those moms are readying to leave to run errands alone or with fewer in tow.  I'm feeding a baby, pouring cereal for the toddler and preschooler, and calling to my first grader to check on progress as she readies for the day.  The baby screams for food, I'm wondering where I left my coffee again, and turn to see the middle two finally sitting down to eat. 

I sit and think sometimes about all the things they can do.  Work out uninterrupted.  I struggle to find 20 minutes in the day to add that habit back in.  Go grocery shopping and not worry about the Commissary closing.  I'm usually there at 6:30 in the evening, doing a Supermarket Sweeps run, nodding to the guy who's reminding me all the check out lanes are getting ready to close.  Inevitably, I forget five things.  I'm not brave enough to take my four grocery shopping.  The other moms join clubs, volunteer.  Meanwhile, I'm saying no.  Childcare is hard to come by at these events, my homeschooler has "aged out" of them, and I struggled to find a babysitter.  Especially one who will watch four young children.  So, I say no.  Again and again.  And it's lonely and hard.

Motherhood is lonely and hard.  I have been pondering a lot on that lately.  A dear friend of mine recently responded to a text of mine asking for advice saying it perfectly: "This mothering gig is hard.  So hard."  Oh, yes.  It is.  As much as we love to be surrounded by our people, mothering is difficult and isolating.  And it's easy, I think, to look at mothers in a different season and envy the silence and hard earned free time.  Every time I sit down, someone is demanding my attention.  Even during "quiet" time.  In any given moment, someone is asking me to rock them, another asking for some quality time, and then there's the trouble maker two year old who's quietly causing mass destruction in my wake.  I've been burnt out lately.  Lonely lately.  Terribly lonely. 

But, I had a thought today.  As I sat on my porch staring off into the distance, I wondered something.  I know some of those mothers look at my life and miss it.  Maybe a little.  Maybe a lot.  My life is full.  Many people ask if we will have more, are we pregnant.  (Oh, goodness.  Let me get a handle on my life with four!)  I am still adjusting to my newly expanded family.  It's loud, hectic, trying, and busy.  It's messy.

But it's beautiful.  And sometimes I forget that.

Those mothers have quiet and calm and time for themselves.  And oh, how wonderful.  But, I still have tiny feet pattering through my house.  Oh, how I will miss that patter someday.  I have four children who are desperate to spend time with me.  Imagine that.  Four people who desire my company.  Who yearn for my approval and attention.  Oh, how I will miss that yearning someday.  I have four people who are seeing the world for the first time through excited, innocent eyes.  And I get to witness that!  Oh, how I will miss that fresh excitement someday.  I get to sit down with my daughter and teach her everyday.  I taught her to read!  That is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.  Oh, I will miss teaching her one day. 

As hard as this time is, as busy and sometimes stressful, I want to remember that someday I will miss it.  I will miss holding tiny ones in my arms, even in if they are screaming and fighting sleep.  I will miss the pattering of little feet, even if it is into my shower where I am desperate for five minutes alone.  I will miss the exposure to all things new, even if they demand to share it with me while I am finally answering emails received days ago.  I will miss teaching her, even if it's while attending to the baby who refuses to nap--again. 

Because it goes so fast.  I will blink and they will be gone.  And the tough times will be over.  The sleepless nights, the gracious but aching no to another activity or meet up.  The missed workouts, the epic meltdowns at church or the store.  But those tough times are laced with beauty too.  I must not forget that.  And for every tough moment, every missed opportunity, there is a greater blessing.  For every time a dream or vision of my life that changes abruptly, there is bigger beauty.  There, in front of my eyes are four--four--tiny people who just want my heart.  Who just want me. 

They want me! They patter, clamor, call, cry for me.  And someday, they will be gone.  In school perhaps.  Or off living their own lives. And my house will be quiet.  My life less chaotic.  There will be beauty there, too. 

But there will be no tiny people. 

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

Dear [Reality TV Star],

Last night, my husband was sleeping off a fever next to me on the couch.  Which meant I had full control over the TV remote.  So, I clicked on your show to watch. During one of your interviews, you said something interesting. 

"We have to talk about things that probably a lot of couples wouldn't talk about back in the States just because...
if we were back in the States, we wouldn't have to be talking about, 'Now if you die, like, what am I supposed to do from there, you know...like, if you don't come home after you're supposed to, you know, this hour...what do I do?' It's hard to talk about those things..."

I thought you hailed from America.  Like, from the United States.  I had thought I heard you were from Arkansas.  But, there must be a different United States.  A different Arkansas. 

Because I live in America--I live in the United States.  And I know so many couples, both young and old, who's entire lives revolve around this very conversation. 

My friend Sabrina lives this conversation everyday.  She has three beautiful, young children.  A girl and two boys.  Her husband is an Oakland police officer.  Every day she sees him off to work, and everyday I'm sure she fears him not coming home.  She inspires me. Nearly everyday, I think of her.  How I would not be able endure that kind of stress, everyday. My friend Michelle lives in Georgia.  She has eleven beautiful children.  She also endures this stress everyday, as her husband is a police officer in Georgia.  She, too, I'm sure fears his not coming home everyday. 

My sister-in-law Angie lives this fear.  Her husband--my twin brother--serves in the National Guard.  Recently, he left for three weeks of intense military training, with weapons and large military vehicles. They were at Fort Hood, training in dangerously high heat.  I'm sure, everyday, she would worry about his safety.  I'm sure, at least a few times during those three weeks, she worried about him not coming home.  Because I did. 

I live this fear everyday, too.  I worry that my husband will die sometimes.  A lot of times.  We have conversations pretty frequently about his will, our wills.  About what would happen if he died on the job. 

Because my husband is an active duty Soldier in the U.S. Army.  And every wife on my street is a military spouse.  Wives of helicopter pilots, military police officers, former infantryman--they all live on my street.  As we've watched our children play together, we've talked about our back up plans, about what we would do if our husbands were killed on Active Duty.  And we all have a back up plan.  Because when those uniformed officers show up at your door with a Chaplain, you won't have time or the emotional stamina to get together a plan. 

You live in South America as a missionary.  You probably won't spend 20 years down there.  You'll probably mission elsewhere eventually.  Maybe even back in the States.  But my friends and I, the police officer wives, firefighter wives, military wives--we will spend a lifetime living in fear.  The fear you said most couples probably don't have to discuss.  We have wills and power of attorneys and back up plans, just in case.  Because we live this everyday. 

I'm happy for you that, if you were back in the United States, you wouldn't have to be talking about the what if's should your husband not walk in the door at the appointed hour.  I'm relieved for you that your life would not revolve around the possibility of him dying.  It's a hard life to live. I would wager though that, when you are home in your United States, milling around in your Arkansas, you likely are rubbing elbows with men and women who do live with this fear daily.  More couples, perhaps, than you realize. 

Because we are everywhere.  Living lives, silently praying everyday that we don't have to pull out those power of attorneys, put into action our back up plans. Hoping we never have to tell our young--or older--children that Daddy, Mommy isn't coming home that night.  That they aren't ever coming home.

Enjoy your safety in the United States.  Your comfort.  It's brought to you by a band of fearful, heroic young and old couples, silently going about our lives.  Everyday.

It's been awhile.  A long while.  I needed space, and quiet. It's been a crazy year and a half. 

A year ago, I could hardly breathe.  No one noticed.  To most of the outside world, I looked fine.  Acted fine.  But, breathing hurt.  Not physically.  But, it took effort.  Each breath.  But, I kept taking one breath at a time.  Because I had to. 

We lost him.  The pregnancy seemed fine to the doctors.  Not to me. I knew something wasn't right.  I guess moms sometimes just know these things.  And so when they couldn't find the heartbeat with the nearly broken Doppler, I knew it wasn't broken.  The couldn't find it with the next Doppler, or the next two ultrasounds.  My son was gone, and I was thrown into a swirling darkness that lasted a long time.  I was the only one there.  It was scary, painful, and lonely.  But God was there, and He took me by the hand and pulled me through.  It's a beautiful, painful story. A love story.  Because without suffering, there can be no love.

Despite it all, God promised he would "bless our family again."  His words.  On last Easter Sunday.  Those were the words I clung to as I moved through the days.  The move, the starting over, the countless labs to find out Why.  Eventually we did find out why.  Which was a bitter sweet pill to swallow.  Treatments could have saved our precious sons.  But we didn't know.

Then, it happened.  Another blessing.  "Pregnant." I cried.  In my husband's arms.  I wept from great fear and great joy.  I started daily blood thinners, progesterone, and extra supplements all in attempt to keep this sweet tiny blessing alive.  Anxiety shook me to my core some days.  There are people who talked me through intense panic, and I'm grateful.  Prayers, so many prayers. 

I knew he was a boy. 

Right away, I knew. I've been right with every pregnancy on the sex.  And I knew this was a boy again.  Which scared me even more.  I had told myself we would never have a boy this side of Paradise.  I couldn't handle losing another.  Week by week, I crawled through the pregnancy.  Each month was a huge milestone.  18 weeks came, and I had to go between appointments, just to hear his sweet heart beating.  Because I thought he was gone.  He wasn't.  Just quiet.  Our little rainbow baby was growing.  I've always thought the term rainbow baby was beautiful--rainbows are a sign of God's covenant with man.

20 weeks, the big ultrasound.  24 weeks, viability. 28 weeks, third trimester. 32 weeks, bi-weekly NSTs. 36 weeks, almost there.  37 weeks, full term. 

And then it happened.  The very moment I had convinced myself I'd never live to see.  The moment, I had let myself envision only a handful of times. 

He came.  And he was alive. He cried and nestled on my chest for an hour before they weighed him.  One of the greatest hours of my life.  I sobbed to my husband.  "He's here! We have a son! He made it! I did it!" 

I didn't do it.  He did.  Our great and merciful God.  He didn't have to.  He did not have to give me another sweet baby.  He did not have to allow that sweet baby to be a boy.  He did not have to answer my prayers about how my labor went.  Down to the very hour. 

But He did. 

My friends, though times may be so very dark that your soul can't see, He is there.  Though it seems as though the swirling grief may never end, it will.  Though it seems no good may ever happen again, it will.  After every rain, there will be a rainbow. 

Mine is sleeping upstairs. 

Weeping may tarry through the night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

I'll confess it. I haven't watched the videos. I can't. I cannot make myself push play. I cannot watch people sift through parts of a human baby and laugh and barter on its price. I can't watch people who callously set prices on the organs of an unborn, dismembered child.

But, it's all hitting a very sensitive, raw place in my heart.

In the next week, I should have been giving birth. Had things been differently, I would be waddling around, complaining about how uncomfortable I was and giddy that we would be welcoming our fourth. My maternity clothes would be too tight. I would be lying awake at night, unable to sleep and making lots of trips to the bathroom. In the next week, had things been differently, I'd be feeling the cramping turn to contractions, timing them, guessing when it was time to leave.

In the next week, I would have been bringing my son into the world.

But, I never got that chance. Because my son died in utero at 18 weeks into the pregnancy.

As I was scrolling my newsfeed on Facebook this morning, I saw another video had been released regarding Planned Parenthood's atrocities. The link read, "Planned Parenthood worker comments that 'It's a boy.'"

It came flooding back.

I prayed that night, while the world slept. I writhed with grief so painful that it was blistering my soul. I begged my sisters, my mother to pray. I prayed that this child that had already opened its eyes to God was a girl. I could not stand the thought of losing another son.

And his beautiful body was born

"Oh, God, it's a boy!" I wailed. "I'm sorry, Richard! Oh, God, it's a boy. I lost another son."
And I still weep.

He was perfect. He looked exactly like his father. It was precious and heartbreaking. He had the chiseled face, the square shoulders that attracted me to this boy's father. His nose and his eyes. Everything. He was all Daddy. 

And his feet.

He was fearfully and wonderfully made. And I should be welcoming him into our family this week. I should be going into labor, praying that he's healthy. I shouldn't know he's a boy. Because we always wait until they are born to find out.

But, I found out too early. And I held him for hours. I had a meal with him, as he laid on my lap. I slept with him on my chest. And it was the most peaceful sleep I'd had. I held him. I stared at his beautiful self.

I took pictures.

I so want to share them. Post them. So people see that he and his brother, lost at 13 weeks into the pregnancy a few years ago, are not a clump of cells. They were fully formed human beings. Arms and legs. Fingers and toes. A body and a soul.

But people get so offended. It's too graphic. It's too much to see. A lion is worth anger and photos. But not a child lost in pregnancy.

I am so upset this week. All these films wherein the Planned Parenthood workers laugh and barter and sell children's body parts.

I should be welcoming my son into the world. Instead, as I stand in the shower everyday, I mourn my very thin waist. As I flew to a wedding I shouldn't have been able to attend, I remembered his absence. I sat on his grave that week, and wept. Oh, the irony.

I held them. I mourn them. I miss them. I am empty. Because these are human beings. Infinitely more valuable than a lion. Than a cheetah. Than an animal.

Because they are more than an animal. These are human beings. And if one wonderful thing can withstand all of this, it's that these sweet babies all sit before the throne of God. They sit with my sons. They sit with the children of my friends, with the souls of my own brothers and sisters. They sit with all the children lost during pregnancy, whether naturally or through abortion.

Try to name your price, Planned Parenthood. These infinitely valuable human beings look down upon you praying for your soul.

And I need to remember to pray, too.

St. John, pray for us. St. James, pray for us.