Angels and Rainbows - The beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. But it can provide colour and hope.

[Whatevertheweather]

“Rainbow Babies” is the understanding that the beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. When a rainbow appears, it doesn’t mean the storm never happened or that the family is not still dealing with its aftermath. What it means is that something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counter balance of color, energy and hope.

Razz huge congratulations! Welcome little Samuel! Glad to hear you are both well.

razz absolutely delighted to hear your news of the safe arrival of Samuel! Totally understand that you don't want to sleep and just sit there cuddling your beautiful boy.

fan glad to hear that you are feeling better. You are doing lots of positive things for yourself, and with a bit of DH spoiling too, it all sounds very good! Here's to that BFP that cheese was dreaming about...

shakey wishing you a peaceful day tomorrow as we all remember Grace.

Yay razz congratulations so happy for you. Samuel is a lovely name and so glad he is doing ok.

Razz, hurray for baby Samuel! How sweet and tiny! for you. The CS pain will pass surprisingly quickly. It's a week today for me and it doesn't hurt. I still feel a bit bruised but not enough to take painkillers for.

Shakey, thinking of you and Grace for tomorrow. I'm so glad you have Rose. Cuddle her tight and it will help a bit.

Fan, hope that Cheese turns out to be a prophetess!

Haven't given Mother's Day much thought yet, apart from to wonder vaguely what to do for my mum. It's also our 5th wedding anniversary on the 18th and neither of us has bought a present for the other, or not yet, anyway. 5 years is wood, according to Wikipedia. Maybe we could buy a little tree for Thea. to everyone struggling with Mother's Day.

Oh Razz hurray! He's here! Welcome baby Samuel Hope your first night together was wonderful - don't blame you for not wanting to sleep. Take care xxxxx

Shakey thinking of you and Grace today. I hope the day is gentle on you all. Hugs to you and floaty kisses to Grace xx

Huge congrats Razz welcome baby Samuel xxx
Shakey xxx

Happy birthday baby Grace, shakey I hope you are ok. xx

Eeek I had my first ever positive ov test today, we SWI on thur, today and will again tomorrow and mon morning (before dh goes away woth work for a week) Do you think this is enough? I hope we catch this egg [hopeful emoticon].

Congrats razz - aw little Samuel sounds so gorgeous and tiny. Glad another rainbow is here safely.
Blizy, sounds like plenty! Only takes one good swimmer

Hugs Shakey, happy birthday angel Grace. x

Happy Birthday Grace. Hope you're ok, Shakey.

fan yes it was very odd! Hoping it comes true!

Razz wonderful news! So pleased for you :)

shakey thinking of you today xx

too how are you and Maia doing?

blizy good luck, sounds like enough to me, hope this is your month

Ella's doing really well, no problems at all, touch wood. Feeding really well and every few hours or so, sometimes every hour but usually longer. Sleeping ok as well. Going to get a takeaway soon and watch some tv I think. She'll be in newborn clothes next week I think, well the babygrows at least, as she's just a little too long for them now but they fit everywhere else. I have a feeling that they'll dwarf her!

Hope everyone's ok!

Congratulations razz and welcome baby Samuel, gorgeous name . So happy for you! xxx

blizy everything crossed for you, sounds plenty of SWI, good luck

wtw with you on the Mothers Day Feeling very bleak here and just had a cry.

shakey thinking of you and Grace today xx

This Mothers Day

If we can touch our children, or not.
We are still their Mother.
We borne them; gave them to this life and gave them love.
We have held them, cried silent tears of joy, pain, anger and love. Most of all, love.

Our children are in us, all around us, are everything we do.
Even if we can't see them, we just need to close our eyes and they are there.
We are their Mothers.
No one can change that.
We wouldn't want them to.

Bloody horrid isn't it Split. Lovely poem though. Am hoping it's like a lot of things where the build up is worse than the actual day. Gentle hugs to everyone xxxx

Candle lit here for Grace, shakey I hope today has been as gentle as it can be.

blizy sounds good to me. Fx the pos ov isn't the only pos you get this cycle. Fx!

Welling up at that poem, Spilt.

Today has been manic - MW came at 9, said that first MW had calculated Maia's weight loss wrong and it was actually 12%, but that she has now made it up to 9.9% by putting on 70g in 3 days. However, she then said we had to feed even more frequently and give top-ups of expressed breast milk. We have only managed one top-up so far and it was really hard to get it into her.

Then my family came to visit - dad, stepmum and little brother and sisters and they were totally overexcited and Maia got all upset and won't settle now. I need her to sleep so she can put on weight and feed calmly - she wound up feeding from me for most of their visit, I think because she was just so freaked out by the noise and the constant passing around and being prodded by hyper 5 year-olds.

Too does she have wet and dirty nappies? There are other signs that she's getting enough milk than merely going on weight gain alone. Try not to stress over it, she sounds like she's doing just fine. I do think that health care professionals worry women unnecessarily over weight gain or lack thereof and cause them to doubt their feeding abilities. I also wouldn't express to do top ups personally, it's just more stress for you and she probably doesn't need it! Some babies just put on weight slower than others, simple as that really.

Hope that doesn't sound preachy but it's a bugbear of mine.

Too good advice from Cheese don t stress all will come right.they said the same to us re: Phebs ... Now she's eating too much!!! Can t win !!! She's healthy & happy that's enough for me. Enjoy as the time goes so quick. Xx
Spilt lovely poem. I have thought of my Georgie many times recently & miss her so dreadfully & come back to my original thoughts; " it's not fair" . Hope you feel brighter soon? Xx
Blitzy good luck on swi xxx
Shakey hope you re ok?
Fan xxx hi xxx
Hi everyone. Hope we re all well? Had a lovely spa day with my sister & mum & left Phebs for a whole 9 hours with her dad & grandad. Longest I ve left her & we survived. I missed her but was do-able!!!
Much love, cuddles & hope to us all tomorrow celebrating our fallen Angels & rainbow babies xxxx

Gentle Mother's Day hugs to everyone.

Cheese, she is doing lots of wet and dirty nappies...the MWs seem concerned about her jaundice, though. MW due in 10 mins - will update later.

Hope you all have a peaceful mother's day ladies. X

U hope today goes by easily for you all, all our angels are with us today and always.

Hope this mother's day is going easy on everyone. We've had a good but busy day here. My two boys came home early from their dad and dd1 made me breakfast in bed (she doesn't see much of him)then we went to see my mum and gave her a card and gifts. Popped in the shops and then took some flowers to Scarlett.

A woman started talking to me there, she said she didn't even know where her son was buried until a couple of years ago as he was stillborn at 7 months and she was in such a state that she couldn't visit or deal with anything. We chatted a while, seemed like a lovely woman.

Very bittersweet day today. I've been ok today, just wishing Scarlett could have been here for it too xx

Hi all: hope you ve all survived?
I ve had a lovely few days at my mum & dads . Today we all went for a family meal & I was bought a lovely bag & card from Phebs. Was great but now back home & having a big old cry about my Georgie. I miss her & want her so much. I want to see what's she looks like, who she looks like now, what colour her eyes are, would she be talking fully now , walking??? Etc....etc???? God, it's so hard as you all know.
My Phoebe is an absolute life saviour but today of all days I mourn & miss my Georgie. As we all do.xxxx
Much love to you all xxxxxxx

Vicky- all the best of luck for today! Can't wait to hear about the little ones arrival! Xx