Paper Shenaniganz: October 2014

Welcome to the Miscarriage and Infant Loss Awareness Month Blog Hop.

You should of arrived here from Alicia's Blog, if not, please start at the beginning at Jessica's Blog!

Today, October 15, is National Miscarriage and Infant Loss Awareness Day.

This hop was created for those that have either have Angel Babies, for those that suffered a devastating loss with the loss of their own child or someone in their life that has an Angel baby or lost a child.

Here are a few statistics to keep in mind regarding Miscarriage and Infant Loss:

75% of all conceptions end in miscarriage

30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage (1 in 3)

15-20% of confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriage

The majority of miscarriages happen in the first trimester

Chromosomal Abnormalities are the most common reason for miscarriages and still births

90,000 children die annually before their first birthday

Nearly 2,500 babies are lost a year in the US due to SIDS

Nearly 30,000 babies are year are born stillborn. This number jumps to 4.5 million worldwide

Stillbirth occurs 10 times more frequently than SIDS

More babies die as a result of stillbirth than all other causes of infant death a year

The above reference statistics can be found on both of the following websites if you would like to find out more information:

**http://www.hiringforhope.org/pregnancy-infant-loss-awarenes…

** http://miscarriage.about.com/…/a/miscarriage-statistics.html

Too many people in this world grieve in silence over the loss of their children. This hop is meant to CELEBRATE them! You will see many different stories from the wonderful ladies in this hop. Some have themselves loss their beautiful babies, some had family members go through a loss, and some are here to show their support for the women who have gone through it.

How can YOU show your support today? Here are a few examples:

Keep your headlights on all day

Keep your porch lights on all day

Wear pink and blue ribbons

Light a candle and display it in your window

Release butterflies

The theme for this hop is any project centered around Angels, babies, pink and blue ribbons, condolence cards, tributes, and layouts!

There will be a blog prize from Craftin' and Stampin' from online Close To My Heart store.

The "Your Own Kind Of Wonderful" stamp set is the prize for today's hop. To be eligible, please visit each blog and make sure to comment and follow along the way. Winners will be announced on the Craftin' and Stampin' blog on 10/18/14.

I decided to share a drawing I made of a pink and blue awareness ribbon with my favorite related quote around it. "It takes more bravery to find out who you are beyond your pain, than to merely survive it. I also included the date my angel baby was due. For me, I thought that was more special than the date I miscarried. I wanted it to be a positive date, rather than a painful one. Making this and looking at it daily has helped me during my journey of healing. It is a lifelong battle, and something many of us can unfortunately relate to.