My Why- Jeannie DeSena, NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer

When my first pregnancy ended in miscarriage late in the first trimester, I was devastated. We had seen the baby’s heartbeat on ultrasound and thought we were in the clear, only to find out weeks later that the baby had stopped developing and had died. Unsure if we had a boy or a girl, we named our baby Robin Christian to honor our friend Robin, who stayed by my side for days though she was caring for her newborn and our faith.

Coming to terms with that loss was a painful process that led me to seek help at KinderMourn, an amazing non-profit in Charlotte, North Carolina, that offers counseling, support groups, and more for families who have experienced the death of a child. A kind counselor named Chris helped steer my husband and me in a productive direction, and we later joined a group of other couples whose babies had not survived pregnancy. 

When I became pregnant again, a KinderMourn pregnancy-after-loss group gave me a place to discuss my fears. Over the next ten years, my husband and I were blessed with four more children. I helped raise funds for KinderMourn as a United Way Speaker’s Bureau member. I set aside my journalism career for the life of a stay-at-home mom, freelancing as a writer and book editor to keep up …