Our life has been anything but ordinary. Amy spent her twenties working in South America and Dave was in the seminary. We met in Washington D.C. where Amy was working and Dave was in grad school. We fell in love, got married, and had exciting plans for the future, picturing a normal, happy life together; a perfectly colored print.
That’s when life got real messy.
Our first child, Gabriel, was miscarried at 9 weeks, just three months into our marriage. The harsh reality of what starting a family can mean hit us hard. As difficult as it was, we got pregnant again some months later and we thought the pain of loss was behind us. This pregnancy progressed normally and the baby was healthy, until the final stages of labor. Our second child, Gianna Rose, died at 4 days old due to medical negligence during Amy’s labor and delivery.
Loss, trauma, grief. These were just words a few years ago. Now they are part of our daily life.
We have since moved to Colorado, had a son, Lucas, had another miscarriage, and began a journey we never imagined for ourselves: learning to live without our three children and carrying the weight of child loss with us every day.
People often have rosy ideas of what life will be like, and some people’s lives are shattered by terrible tragedy. That is when you realize that you can make – you have to make – life outside the lines. Lines that were your ideas of what life would and should be, that were your hopes and dreams.
We have found comfort in knowing we are not alone in the world of baby loss and medical negligence.This blog is an attempt to share our own journey with the hope of making others feel that they too, are not alone, in whatever pain they experience in life.
Welcome to a glimpse into our messy life – our Life Outside the Lines!
