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Bereavement

Find bereavement help and support from other Mumsnetters. See also your choices after baby loss.

Stillborn at 40+3

99 replies

Onedaydreaming · 13/12/2021 16:09

We lost our beautiful baby girl last week, sadly she was born sleeping.

I’ve been through an array of emotions since and just wondering if it ever gets easier.

I feel guilty if she doesn’t consume my thoughts every moment and watching tv or doing something to distract myself - I’m left with such a feeling of guilt.

I know it’s very early days and grieving is a process but this is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through. I’m still at the point where I don’t want to talk about it to anyone irl, although plenty of support is being offered by family and friends. It’s too heart wrenching to go through. My DH is helping but I feel he is grieving differently to me and tries to occupy his days so he can distract himself. All I want to do is sleep and never wake up.

OP posts:
pcofmushu · 13/12/2021 16:37

I'm so sorry OP. Please, if you'd like to, tell us more about your daughter 💕

PraiseTheSunshine · 13/12/2021 16:37

I'm so very sorry for your loss Flowers I can't begin to imagine what you must be going through. If you would you like to talk we are all here for you xxx

Rrrob · 13/12/2021 16:38

Hi @Hannah23xx I just wanted to send you some love. What did you name your beautiful girl?

I lost my baby daughter in different circumstances (she was 1) but understand some of your pain. I found a lot of comfort in talking to strangers online who could relate (honestly I did). If you would like to chat please PM me. I would be happy to chat and help you in any way I can.
I’m sure others have said this, but your life will grow around your grief and I promise you will smile and laugh again. It’s been nearly 3 years for me and there are more better days than bad now.

AwaAnBileYerHeid · 13/12/2021 16:43

I'm so sorry, I can't imagine what you're going through x

Swirlywoo · 13/12/2021 16:43

I am so very sorry for your loss Flowers

DappledOliveGroves · 13/12/2021 16:45

I'm so, so sorry for your loss. Thinking of you Daffodil

SingingSands · 13/12/2021 16:50

Oh my darling I'm so sorry. I know that words aren't any comfort right now, so just know that there are many virtual hands to hold here on Mumsnet, at any time of the day or night.

Holding you and your DH in my thoughts.

littlefireseverywhere · 13/12/2021 16:54

Oh I’m so sorry for your loss.

waterlego · 13/12/2021 16:56

I don’t have any advice or experience to share but just want to say that I’m so very sorry for your loss. There is surely nothing more devastating than the loss of a child.

Sleep if that is what you need to do. Eat when you feel able to, whatever you can manage. Take one hour at a time.

My heart hurts for you. 💐

Camii · 13/12/2021 17:02

Wishing you strength. I think you must just take it moment to moment, day to day.
My best friend found that speaking to other people who had experienced the same, really helped her. But for now just do what you can to keep going. You won't feel as horrendous as you do now. It will hopefully get easier.
Wishing you and your husband all the best

mistermagpie · 13/12/2021 17:04

God I'm so sorry. It's absolutely one of the worst things I can imagine.

Not me but a close friend lost her son the same way, it was utterly utterly devastating and she took a very long time to return to work and things like that. She has lots of photos of him in the house and talks of him quite regularly, but this is about ten years down the line now. She has made some peace with it all but it was a long road. Give yourself time but also permission to not think about it every minute of the day, you are allowed to think about other things , your mind needs a break sometimes.

Would you like to share her name? My friend loves it when people remember his name, he was Jack and he was her son and she will be his mummy forever, it's the same for you.

SheldonesqueTheBstard · 13/12/2021 17:11

Some of us are mams with empty arms.

There is no right way to grieve. No right way to act. No right way to be.

Tread softly through the days.

As Rrob so beautifully put it, life grows round the grief.

For you, your DH and your daughter. ✨ 🌻

stopwindingeachotherup · 13/12/2021 17:19

I had a stillbirth at 40 + 1. That was 20 years ago now in August. I often think about him. I found myself sobbing in a shop that first Christmas. I went home and phoned SANDS for the first time. They were really helpful. I had a 1 year old at the time so I had to get up for him but that sense of sadness was also there for what he had missed out on.

It does get easier but even all these years later I still have moments of sadness. There is no rush, don't push yourself to do anything you don't want to. xxx

hotmeatymilk · 13/12/2021 17:20

I’m so sorry. There’s no wrong way to grieve, and there’s no easy route through. What was her name? Flowers

firstimemamma · 13/12/2021 17:26

I'm so sorry for your tragic loss op.

My friend's baby was born in the second trimester, she lived for a day and then died. That was at the beginning of the year. My friend is very upset but is now able to have 'good days' and find happiness in life. She has bereavement counselling too, which I believe helps teach her to live with the loss as of course it never goes away.

Your loss is so recent and I can't imagine how you must be feeling but I really hope you feel a bit better soon Thanks

EnrouteNOTonroute · 13/12/2021 17:32

Op I’ve been through similar, you’re in the very early dark days but what I can tell you from personal experience is yes, it does get easier.
I found comfort in knowing that my daughter would want me to feel joy and happiness again, so I stopped feeling guilty when I started to recover.
Best wishes to you xxx

TheSweetestHalleluja · 13/12/2021 17:58

I am so, so sorry for the loss of your beautiful daughter. There is no right or wrong way to grieve, and what you and your partner are feeling is completely normal. I am glad that your friends and family are offering support, and in time you may feel more ready to open up to them and accept the support they want to give, but in the meantime, you are entitled to feel however you are feeling, and if you need time to yourself to process everything then that is ok too.
Be gentle on yourself OP. I thoroughly recommend SANDS for support and the chance to speak to other parents going through the same pain.

Flowers

Lacedwithgrace · 13/12/2021 18:07

I'm so so sorry Flowers

Please don't feel guilty, or punish yourself in any way. Let yourself grieve however feels right, you can't do it wrong so just go with it. There are lots of us here who have gone through it and although we can't do much, we're here if you need to talk. I'll light a candle for your little girl, and think of you all tonight x

CustardCreamm · 13/12/2021 18:14

I'm so sorry OP, thinking of you and your family Thanks

SunsetandCupcakes · 13/12/2021 18:18

I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter, there is no pain like it.

To answer your question it gets different in my experience. The best analogue for me is like ripples in a pond when you drop a stone in. The first ripples are big and close together and overwhelming, over time they are still there but not quite so big, not quite so often. However grief is a personal journey, what ever you feel, however you cope That Is Normal. There is no right or wrong way to feel or grieve, you do what is needed to get you through.

VeganCheesePlease · 13/12/2021 19:46

First of all, I'm so, so sorry you've had to go through this. It's something nobody should ever have to go through.
My son was stillborn, so I've been there.
I won't lie and say it won't be tough. It will. But I will also promise you that life will feel good again. You will see beauty in the world again and feel happiness, love and warmth in your life again.
You owe nobody merry and bright this Christmas, and your daughter will always matter, and will always be a part of you.
Us angel mamas are strong. Stronger than anyone should ever have to be. You can always message me if you would like to talk about her, or just for a virtual shoulder to cry on.
If it helps at all, and I know it's such early days, but what I have found really does help is last Christmas I made a tradition where one day before Christmas my mum, my granny and I all meet up, go shopping, have a girly coffee (or a cheeky prosecco) and go leave beautiful flowers where my sons ashes are scattered. It makes him part of Christmas and it means the bloody world to me.
If you would like to talk about your daughter, there's a beautiful community of us all here. If you don't want to talk about her now but do in six months or six years, we will still be here. You are never, ever alone even though sometimes it might feel like it. Thinking of you. Xx

santasmuma · 13/12/2021 19:48

I'm so sorry OP, I am not at all good with words but I am thinking of your beautiful girl right now Thanks

IHateCoronavirus · 13/12/2021 19:55

You want to sleep and never wake up.

I remember that feeling. I drove past a burning house one day and felt a calmness descend over me as I imagined being consumed by flames, almost as if the fire would have been a blessed relief from the grief that consumed me.

I’m not sure when that deep, raw pain shifted. My little girl would be 7 this coming March, but I don’t feel it anymore. Sadness and longing yes, but my life has grown around her loss, I can see the beauty in life now too. I still think of her every day at some point but with warmth in the sadness.

Notbluepeter · 13/12/2021 20:13

FlowersI hope you find some peace from this comment that I found left by someone else a few years ago.

"Alright, here goes. I'm old. What that means is that I've survived (so far) and a lot of people I've known and loved did not. I've lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can't imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here's my two cents.

I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I don't want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don't want it to "not matter". I don't want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can't see.

As for grief, you'll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you're drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it's some physical thing. Maybe it's a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it's a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive.

In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don't even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you'll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what's going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything...and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life.

Somewhere down the line, and it's different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O'Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you'll come out.

Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don't really want them to. But you learn that you'll survive them. And other waves will come. And you'll survive them too. If you're lucky, you'll have lots of scars from lots of loves. And lots of shipwrecks. "

Roseandgeranium · 13/12/2021 20:16

I’m so sorry. My heart breaks for you.