116. Life, Faith & Finding Hope After Infant Loss (Costello Syndroome) with Justice Kreider

The Joyful Mourning - A Podcast for Women Who Have Experienced Pregnancy or Infant Loss

You’re listening to The Joyful Mourning Podcast episode 116. My guest this week is Justice Kreider, a mom to three girls, one here on earth, one in heaven and one growing in her belly. During our time together Justice shares the story of her daughter Selah, She heard the words, we’re seeing some abnormalities at her 20 week anatomy scan but were given no clear answers as to what was wrong or what the prognosis would be. 7 weeks later at 27 weeks Justice would give birth to Selah who would live for 9 days. It would be another month before Justice was given any answers as to what had happened to her precious baby.

Justice shares honestly and tenderly and with the heart of a newly grieving mom having just lost her daughter within the year. We talk about what she would tell a mom who has been given news that something isn’t quite right, the mom in the waiting and the uncertainty. She talks about what surprised her about this journey, what helped her in this journey and what she would do differently if she was giving advice to another mom in a season of loss and grief.

We also talk about marriage after loss and what it’s been like to parent her living daughter Amara after loss and what pregnancy after loss has been like as well. Lastly we talk about her faith amidst this journey and it is my favorite part of this episode. When I asked her to tell me about her faith she answered with this: “I didn’t have anything to say to Him. I would sit in his presence though because I knew He was who I needed. He was the only one who would be able to help me through this.” and then in closing Justice says this: “i would never ever say I wish this never happened... because we got her.”

Justice shares in a way that is incredibly relatable and honest. Her words are truly full of hope and I am sure that you will be encouraged by her story and what she has learned along the way.

FREE GRIEF GUIDEIf you are new to the grief journey I want to share a free resource with you that I think will be really helpful. Navigating the complexities of grief can be feel overwhelming and confusing, if you could use a bit of help understanding what you are experiencing right now, head to themorning.com/griefguide to download a free Grief Guide. This is a simple resource written in collaboration with a counselor that will help you understand the grief you are experiencing, learn what is normal in grief, learn healthy ways to process and begin healing. The guide includes an explanation of bereavement trauma, the different aspects of trauma, what normal feelings of grief are, our bodies physical response to grief, when to seek professional help and journal prompts to help you process all of this in a healthy, helpful way that will lead to healing. To download this free guide head to themorning.com/griefguide.

FREE 7 DAY DEVOTIONALOne more thing, if you are looking for hope and encouragement in your faith journey, I wrote a very, very simple 7 day devotional that I think you will really love and find really helpful. To download that free devotional head to themorning.com/devotional.

SHOW NOTES www.themorning.com/blog/episode116