My mom is amazing

It's true. My mom is amazing. I'll tell you why.

During my pregnancy with Daniel, after we learned about his skeletal dysplasia, we were put in contact with an organization called Angel Watch. They are a perinatal hospice organization, and they were such a blessing to us during such a hard time.

I'm generally a pretty open person, but this was such a hard thing for David and me to go through that it was hard to feel like we could let someone into it - especially someone we didn't know. But I knew that, even though it was hard, I would appreciate what they had to offer. I just couldn't pick up the phone and make the call myself.

When Kay from Angel Watch called me (our genetic counselor asked if Angel Watch could contact us and we said they could), we scheduled a time that she and Suzie, a labor and delivery nurse who was also an Angel Watch counselor, could come meet with us.

It didn't take long to feel comfortable with Kay and Suzie. They spoke softly and were very sensitive to our situation. They helped Dave and me talk about the hard things that we had already had a hard time talking about. Over the next few months they continued to visit and they helped us make the hard choices that come with a baby's poor prognosis.

During one of those meetings, Kay told us about the origins of Angel Watch, and how it had started as a segment of a hospice that either she or her founding partner Carolyn (or maybe both) had worked for. Carolyn had also lost a baby, which was what led her to start the program.

When Kay told me about it, a light bulb came on in my head. My mom was also a hospice nurse and administrator. The thought occurred to me that maybe my mom could become involved and help the families in my hometown who are going through the imminent loss of a baby.

I knew I couldn't just tell her, "Hey, Mom! You should take on this enormous project and get this started at home, too." It's too big a deal to ask someone to do something like that. But I did tell her what Kay had told me, and she had the same idea.

So over that last year and a half, my mom has been very busy getting it going in my hometown. She and the others involved in getting it started decided to name it Daniel's Gift, after my little Daniel. It's so special to me to know that, because of the painful experience that my family went through losing Daniel, families from my hometown who are faced with similar situations will have the invaluable support that we had here.

My mom always has something in the works for Daniel's Gift now. She's always looking for opportunities to spread the word that they are available, looking for service projects for Daniel's Gift families to participate in to honor their babies, etc. And Daniel's Gift is for families who have already been through the loss of a baby, too, even if their loss was a long time ago or they didn't participate with Daniel's Gift during pregnancy for whatever reason. It's a group of people who can support and uplift each other during and after this kind of loss.

It's wonderful to me that my mom would put so much of her effort and her heart into something for my sweet little boy. See, I told you. She's amazing.

Daniel's Gift brochure