#026. This episode is the third in a small series of three, exploring the different stages that can all fall within 'loss of a baby'. From childlessness through to the death of a newborn, loss of a baby is tragically the story of many people, but the experiences, and types of loss attached, vary greatly.
This is The Silent Why, a podcast on a mission to open up conversations around loss and grief and to see if hope can be found in 101 different types of loss.
Although in this podcast we don't normally focus too much on one area of a loss consecutively, we felt it was important to show just how many different experiences can be bundled together, in what most people would group as one type of loss.
Loss #19 of 101 - Loss of a newborn baby.
In this episode we chat to the amazing Elizabeth Leon, from Virginia. Elizabeth and her husband brought nine children into their blended family when they married, and then discovered they were expecting their own baby. But they also found out fairly early in the pregnancy there was a chance their baby might have a rare but serious condition called Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards' Syndrome. This diagnosis affects how long the baby will survive and most Trisomy 18 babies will die before, or shortly after, being born.
Sadly their son, John Paul, did have Trisomy 18 and Elizabeth did all she could to meet her son before he died, while facing questions and decisions she never expected to have before her.
Elizabeth and her family got 1,690 precious minutes with John Paul before he died, yet those moments were not filled with the fear and dread you might expect at such a moment.
Through Elizabeth's experience of loss, with the death of John Paul, and her previous divorce, has come a story of beauty, faith and precious words, culminating in the release of her memoir, 'Let Yourself Be Loved', earlier in 2022. This book is a testimony to her journey and the power that such a short life can have.
She also teaches us all about the value of a smash pile!
For more about Elizabeth:
https://www.elizabethleon.org/
https://www.instagram.com/letyourselfbeloved1690/
https://www.facebook.com/letyourselfbeloved
To purchase Elizabeth's book i
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