About
My Soul to Keep is a baby book and guided journal. It is a place to document your baby existed and record him or her in your life's history. It is a canvas to express your journey through the pain and cherish the memories that were and the ones that would have been.
The CDC defines miscarriage as loss of pregnancy before twenty weeks and stillbirth after twenty weeks. According to Hopeexchange.com from 900,000 to 1 million pregnancies are lost in the US every year. Yet, for anyone who has experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth, you know this is a very personal journey.
It has been more than thirty years since I lost my baby after carrying him for twenty-four weeks, and one thing life has taught me to be true is you never forget. I did not realize the grief, guilt, and anger I was about to go through. At the same time, I was searching for a way to honor my baby, a place to write his name, so I purchased a baby book. There was little I could record because there were no firsts. It was nothing more than a reminder of all the things I would miss and left me with emotional incompletion.
A Baby Book
A baby book of firsts there will not be,
but a lifetime of memories you've made for me.
My Soul to Keep features a Certificate of Life, prompts to record your baby in your life's history, inspirational quotes, and more.
The inspiration behind My Soul to Keep is Baby's Book. Purchased over thirty years ago, I was trying to find a place to honor my baby. The "Special Events" were exchanged for what took place the day I delivered. "Holiday Happenings" announced a private memorial service. Other pages would just sit empty, silently voicing the memories that would never come.
A Journal
"There is no grief like the grief that does not speak."
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Prompts lead the page to honestly express your feelings, accompanied by comforting scriptures. The pages are there for now; and through the years when triggers take you by surprise.
Compelled to create a baby book adapted for the unborn, I soon came to realize grief is your memory. Like anyone you have ever loved and lost, remembering your grief is part of remembering his or her life. Thus, the baby book took on the form of a guided journal as well.
