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★★★★★
We Never Forget
I first saw this figurine in a Hallmark store. I was so touched I could barely put it down. I immediately got online and found it(for a much better price)on Amazon.
Forty-four years ago tomorrow I delivered my son prematurely. He weighed 2#10oz and lived for only five hours. The only time I saw him was in the delivery room, and he was blue.
Back in those days the mothers were not allowed to hold...or even see their babies when they died. In fact, I shared a room with a mother and her healthy baby. The day after my son died someone came in the room to ask me if I wanted him circumcised...not realizing he had died. I had no good memories. I was in the hospital a week because I lost a tremendous amount of blood and needed transfusions. My husband was in Vietnam.
My mom and dad had him buried without discussing it with me. I know they were trying to help but I don't even know if he was wrapped in a nice blanket or had a casket when he was buried. That haunts me to this day.
I am a retired RN and spent many years working in Newborn Intensive Care. I usually was assigned to the sickest babies in the unit. I made sure every parent that wanted to was able to hold their deceased baby for as long as they needed to. I always had the baby cleaned up and dressed and wrapped in a nice blanket. Many parents had never seen their baby without tubes and wires. I would take pictures of parents with their babies. I did everything I could to assist them to have some closure.
When a baby was dying and the parents weren't there, by choice or circumstance,I would pick the baby up and hug and rock him through his last minutes. I didn't want a baby to die alone as I'm sure mine did.
I'm 67 and it is as fresh in my mind as it was back then. I have 3 grown children but nothing can "fix" that loss.
For me this figurine is what I have needed for a long time. Yes, I still cry...and wonder....but now I have something tangible to see and hear and help me remember in a gentle way. It is beautiful.
Once you have carried a baby in your womb...whether for a week or months...that baby is forever a part of you.
December 2012 · Home and Kitchen · verified purchase