108. Infertility, Miscarriage, Life-LImiting Diagnosis & Pregnancy After Loss with Amy Lagomarsino

The Joyful Mourning - A Podcast for Women Who Have Experienced Pregnancy or Infant Loss

In today’s episode I am talking with one of our Joyful Mourning Community members, Amy Lagomarsino about her motherhood journey. A journey that has been filled with incredible loss and yet even amidst tears Amy speaks with joy and hope. Amy shares her story of infertility and seasons of waiting, she shares about pregnancy loss and miscarriage, she shares about her daughter Ella who received a life-limiting diagnosis and lived for 27 hours and she also shares honestly and tenderly about being pregnant again after such loss.

Like I said, her journey has been full of the hardest of things and yet she shares in a way that reminds me that even in the middle of such loss there is hope to be found.

During our time together, Amy not only shares her story but really helpful wisdom she has learned along the way from the different experiences that make up her motherhood journey. She has words of wisdom for the woman in a season of waiting and wondering if she will ever get pregnant. She has wisdom and encouragement for the woman who has just experienced a miscarriage.

She talks about how she prepared for the birth of her daughter Ella and what advice she would give to a woman who has been given a life-limiting diagnosis. She shares what it was like to walk her son Lorenzo through the loss of his baby sister. We talk honestly about guilt and what to do with all the could-haves or should-haves.

We talk about how she said her heart could not handle another loss and that meant no more trying to conceive again, you’ll have to tune in to hear what changed her mind. We talked about the tangible ways she mentally prepared to try and conceive again and how she dealt with others’ excitement over a pregnancy after loss when she just wasn’t quite there yet.

In fact, if you love a grieving mom, her explanation of why it was hard for her to tell others she was pregnant again might be really helpful and insightful to you. I specifically loved and was so encouraged by how her parents and extended family responded when she told them she was pregnant again. I wish every friend and family of a grieving mom could here at least that portion of the episode because it would just communicate an incredible amount of love in such a tender moment.

We even squeeze in how she chose to celebrate Ella’s birthday and honor her at Christmas and why it felt so important to do so. If you are a grieving mom, what she shares might give you some tangible ideas for your own celebrations, anniversaries and holidays. And if you love a grieving mom I think Amy’s thoughts on this might help you better understand a grieving mom.

This episode is full to the brim of real life wisdom about a journey no one asks for but many of us are on. I pray that this honest conversation is a blessing to you as you navigate your own journey.

FREE ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR PREGNANCY OR INFANT LOSS If you are feeling alone in your grief I want to invite you to come join our free online community, The Joyful Mourning Community, where I met Amy and was first introduced to her story. Life after baby loss can be incredibly lonely and isolating, but it doesn’t have to be. Come join our community and find hundreds of women who like you, are looking for hope in this grief journey. For all the details: www.themorning.com/community.

PREGNANCY AFTER LOSS And because we mentioned pregnancy after loss in this episode I thought it would be helpful to remind you about the free download we created, 40 Verses for 40 Weeks. A verse to meditate, think on and study for every week of your pregnancy. Because we know that pregnancy after loss is incredibly hard and we wanted to give you something tangible that would remind you of hope and peace in moments of fear.

To access that free download head to www.themorning.com/4040.

HOW TO LOVE A GRIEVING FRIEND We have a super simple free checklist of how to love a grieving friend. It includes a list of "don't do this, instead do this" ideas, things to avoid saying and helpful things to say. To download a free simple checklist about how to love a grieving friend head to www.themorning.com/friendsandfamily.

SHOW NOTESwww.themorning.com/blog/episode108