Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Bella Joy

It's been three days since Bella was born and I'm finally getting up the courage to start working on preserving what memories we have of her.  I wasn't sure how much I wanted to share with friends and family on Facebook, which has been our lifeline with the rest of the world.  After sharing a few photos, I realized that I want to share EVERYTHING about her.  She is real and the memory of her will always be present in our family.  Our five-year-old daughter Caroline is grieving right along with us, but she is also struggling to understand why and how this happened and where her baby sister is now.  I want her to know every detail there is to know about Bella that we can share with her.  This is unfortunately a part of our lives now.  Caroline will always be a big sister to an angel in Heaven.  I will always be a mother who lost a child.  It is what it is.  Follow along with us if you like.

Bella Joy.  I want to share that this was not supposed to be her name.  Caroline started calling the baby "Bella" when we found out that her new sibling would be a girl.  And it stuck.  Whenever we talked about the baby, we referred to her as "Baby Bella".  Greg and I had not decided on a name for the baby other than the fact that she would NOT be named Bella.  (Sorry Caroline!)  We had a few names we really liked and decided to wait until we met her to choose the name that best fit her personality.  Since we never met her in life, it seemed wrong to call her anything but "Bella".  And now that I think of it, this probably makes the most sense to Caroline.  She doesn't know that we were going to choose a different name and I'm excited about how, one day in the future, she will realize that she was the one to name her sister.  It's perfect.

Brittany

9 comments:

  1. This is such a very prefect way to remember everything about your sweet girl. Thank you for being willing to share your baby Bella with us.

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  2. Thank you for sharing your memories of sweet Bella with us. I think of you and Greg and Caroline constantly. I would have given just about anything I have for you to have been able to keep your little angel here on Earth with you. You are a wonderful, wonderful mommy to both your girls. Sending love and light.

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing Bella's story. She will live on in the hearts of so many. You and Greg are amazing and Caroline and Bella are so lucky that you were chosen to be their mommy and daddy. You are amazingly strong, Brittany. I will continue to keep your family in my thoughts and prayers. <3

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  4. I LOVE that Caroline named her baby sister. And I honestly do not think you guys could have picked a more fitting name for her. Tiesha shared with us that she looked up the meaning of Bella's name, and this is what she found:

    Bella- devoted to God. Lovable. Beautiful. Loving. Graceful.

    Joy- Rejoicing


    Yeah... you guys nailed it!! <3

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  5. Thank you for sharing Bella with us. You and Greg are amazing and the epitome of strength and both Caroline and Bella are blessed to have such parents as you. My heart is with you in this time of grieving. You are all very much loved by your HH family. <3

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  6. Bella Joy - such a lovely name for a gorgeous sweet girl.

    Thoughts and prayers are with you all. We hold your sweet girl in our hearts and send love to the heavens.

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  7. Thank you for sharing this Brittany. I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know Bella through yours and Greg's beautiful stories of her. You have all been in our thoughts and prayers.

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  8. Thank you for sharing her with us. I love the story of her name :)

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  9. Thank you for sharing your Bella Joy with us! Our son was 4.5 when our angel was born, and he named our angel as well - for as long as our son could talk he always spoke of his "little brother, Joey"...and so as soon as we found out our angel was a boy he was called "Joey". Where the children don't have that earthly connection, knowing that your daughter names Bella will be an extra special way for your daughter to carry Belly Joy with her. <3

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