This blog has been knocking around in my head for a good few months, but it's been brought to a head by a couple of Instagram posts I saw by a brilliant lady I follow called Anna Mathur (@annamathur). Anna put a post up about how she'd been attacked by an online troll with this [...]
I recently wrote a social media post on the fourth anniversary of Henry’s funeral about how grateful I am to his two godfathers and his godmother for their incredible support in our darkest days, and especially at his funeral where they all took on central roles in the day in the least godparent-like activity you [...]
Briony broke a mirror a little while ago, and it got me thinking on the subject of luck, karma, fortune, etc. “Seven years’ bad luck”, we instinctively said, and then both wondered aloud whether seven years of bad luck could be retrospectively applied so that we had significantly less than seven years’ bad luck left [...]
A few different things have happened this week that have me reflecting on topics such as language, the concerns of friends, why we talk about our babies that are no longer here, and society's understanding (or lack of understanding) of stillbirth and baby loss. So I wanted to try and verbalise my thoughts on these issues. [...]
Sometimes lollipop men get on my nerves. I drive a lot with work and often find myself sat waiting while a lollipop man (or woman…are they called Lollipop People now?) stops traffic for one mum and child when they’re still a hundred yards away. It particularly gets on my nerves when lollipop men stop traffic [...]
Writer's block lifted and back to our journey! So a couple of weeks after Henry’s funeral, we were back at the hospital for the results of his post-mortem. This was not the sort of six-week check-up we had spent all those months anticipating. That morning I recall just trying to get my head around that [...]
I've had a bit of writer's block for the last couple of months. Lots of things happening at home that have kept me super busy, although I've got about six different blog posts on the go at the moment! Last week I had highs and lows with Facebook's 'On This Day' feature. What a fun [...]
Earlier today I was speechless with amazement at the news that our charity Our Angels' second annual conference for midwives and student midwives, this year in partnership with the University of York Student Midwifery Society, had sold out in just 18 hours. This was an amazing outcome, and one which shows only too clearly how [...]
I really want to get a balance with this blog (and its new little brother, pine_cones_and_study_days on Instagram) between documenting our story and spreading awareness & helping to ensure that there’s good information out there to help reduce the number of families walking in these uncomfortable shoes that you can’t take off. On Monday I [...]
It’s been a busy few days for Henry and I. Last Tuesday we were at Salford University as I was the first bereaved parent to be involved in their incredible bereavement simulation training days for student midwives. Effectively supporting bereaved parents is the biggest concern for virtually every single one of the many hundreds of [...]
This is how I let a most unfortunate loss affect me, but not negatively. I made a choice to pay attention to the signs and understand why they were there. This is my perspective of a series of ironic events that changed me, and gave me knowledge.
My story as the father of a life that ended before it truly began.
Journey to become a strongwoman
Learning to find joy without Edith; life after baby loss
Walking in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, A Mother's Journey of Child Loss
A Dad's Take On Navigating Life and Parenting A Rainbow Baby After Loss
Pine cones and Study Days 