Category: Christine LaFave Grace Columns

What am I waiting for?

What am I waiting for?
November is kind of a weird month, a waiting-heavy month. We anticipate the temperature plunges and the bracing ourselves against a cold rain as we head home from work in the dark. We watch for the final showers of leaves and wait for that brief pause of Thanksgiving before we more or less slingshot into... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
November 10, 2017 at 3:11 pm • 

The first 4 things I've learned in parenting after loss

The first 4 things I've learned in parenting after loss
Today, baby C is six months old. Six months! I swear it was just August, and I was wading, super-pregnant, in the park-district pool, glad to have an evening distraction while I counted down the days until he was due to arrive. And now he’s here and he’s rolling over and eating puréed carrots in... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
February 28, 2017 at 6:31 am • 

Pregnancy after loss: Fourth trimester - REM (and no) sleep

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Back in April, in my blog post about the second trimester of my pregnancy after loss, I wrote: “If I don’t display unbridled enthusiasm about this pregnancy – or if I try to change the subject when conversation turns to anything postpartum – then so be it. I’m OK. We’re OK. We’re just taking it... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
September 6, 2016 at 6:00 am • 
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Pregnancy after loss: Third trimester – the home stretch, again

Pregnancy after loss: Third trimester – the home stretch, again
This post is my third of three trimester posts during my second pregnancy. For my fellow pregnancy-after-loss parents – current, future and previous – in hopeful solidarity. It is 2:09 a.m. and my worry is starting to subside, now that I feel assured that the baby in my belly is still alive. It’s a rough night; some of them... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
June 29, 2016 at 6:00 am • 

Pregnancy after loss: Second trimester – is 'excited' the right word?

Pregnancy after loss: Second trimester – is 'excited' the right word?
This post is the second of three trimester posts I have written during my second pregnancy. Yesterday’s and tomorrow’s posts are from my first and now third trimesters, respectively. For my fellow pregnancy-after-loss parents – current, future and previous – in hopeful solidarity.  “Are you just so excited?” I’ve heard it multiple times since Joe and I announced this... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
June 28, 2016 at 6:45 am • 

Pregnancy after loss: First trimester – how it's different

Pregnancy after loss: First trimester – how it's different
This post is the first of three trimester entries I have written during my second pregnancy. It’s from February, during my first trimester. The posts that will follow in the next two days are from my second and now third trimesters, respectively. For my fellow pregnancy-after-loss parents – current, future and previous – in hopeful... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
June 27, 2016 at 6:00 am • 
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The marvelousness of “On the Night You Were Born”

The marvelousness of “On the Night You Were Born”
I was lucky enough to have parents who read to me often when I was a child. I remember my mom reading “We’re Taking an Airplane Trip” before our first family trip to Florida when I was 5, and my dad reading the Sunday comic strips (“the funnies,” as they of course were called) to... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
March 3, 2016 at 7:00 am • 

Hope in motion

Hope in motion
Is it too early to take stock of 2015? The sight of Advent calendars at the grocery store (only a month until you can start eating a month’s worth of stale chocolate!) has me thinking about last December and the wish I expressed then that I would infuse more genuine optimism into my ways and days... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
November 3, 2015 at 2:59 pm • 

Enduring all things

Enduring all things
Written July 6, 2015. Sharing today in memory of Nathan Joseph, 8/24/14-8/26/14. Yesterday we buried Nate’s ashes. We divided them between two places, placing some just under the mulch around his tree at the arboretum and some in our garden against the back of the house. The spot in our garden is under a decorative... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
August 26, 2015 at 6:45 am • 
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Boston, running and waiting

Boston, running and waiting
I haven’t felt this antsy since just before I started maternity leave. As I write this, I’m 10 days out from the Boston Marathon. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been ticking off the days until Joe, my dad and I head out East. My longest training run, a 20-miler last Saturday, is done. All... Read more »
By Christine LaFave Grace,
April 20, 2015 at 7:00 am •