In Memory of a Lost Son

   This one goes out to a very close friend who has the birthday of her first born son today but sadly he died of SIDS a short time later.

   I've known Kris literally my whole life and when she was pregnant with her son Tyler she was one of the happiest moms to be I've seen. He was born Oct 05, 1996 - Jan 15, 1997. Losing him cause a spiral in her family that almost didn't stop, one day at a time though she put the pieces together and started to rebuild her life.

    She's been pretty tough over the years and has lost 2 children now both boys Tyler to SIDS, Aiden was stillborn a few years ago( that's a whole other story ) and has a beautiful daughter Courtney who is now 12.  

    She talks about her sons  with love and pride always. She can talk about them all of the time and tries to get involved with projects to help get the word out about SIDS as well as still trying to understand why it happens. She came up with the easiest way to put it for me understand, that was that they simply forget to breath and it broke my heart to hear that. When she had Courtney she was scared for a really long time... even after the age of worry. I bet she still checks to see if she's breathing at night.

   She has been through alot since Tyler passed away and gotten tougher the whole way along. Aiden was her last and that almost broke her spirit but she didn't check out of life and reality, she took care of her family and continued on through investigating why these this are happening for her own comfort and knowledge.

   I am amazed by her and the strength she has on what would be his 15th birthday. I have posted this for her in memory of him to show her that we all still think about him at this time and am proud of her for every day she continues to put one foot in front of the other and move forward.


What is SIDS?

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) occurs when a baby dies suddenly while sleeping. It is also known as crib death. SIDS is most likely to occur in babies between 2 and 4 months of age, and the death remains unexplained even after a full autopsy.

The rate of SIDS goes down by half at 6 months of age, though it still happens up to one year of age. There are about 150 SIDS deaths in Canada each year, or 1 in every 2,000 live births. SIDS is still the leading cause of death of infants between one month and one year.

We know that baby boys are at a higher risk than baby girls. Other babies who seem to be at higher risk are premature babies and babies with low birth weight. SIDS occurs during all seasons of the year. There is no indication of a higher risk for babies who have had a SIDS brother or sister.

October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant loss Remembrance Day. It's used to promote, support and educate grieving parents worldwide.

http://www.october15th.com/

Remembering our Babies provides awareness for those who are suffering or may know someone who has suffered a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, still birth or loss of an infant.

http://www.rememberingourbabies.net/store/Default.asp

I am Mother to an Angel provides a support network and community for bereaved mothers.

http://www.iamamothertoanangel.com/
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