The Appleseed Project

In July 2012, My husband Jason and I learnt we were expecting our second child, who would be due 18 months after the birth of our first son, Olly.

The pregnancy was progressing beautifully, if a little more high maintenance than my first, with a toddler to run around after, and the full range of symptoms to cope with as well. Nevertheless, we were incredibly excited to meet this new individual, and much planning, thoughts, hopes and dreams had been discussed with "Appleseed" -- what we had taken to calling our tiny child. We spent several great mornings (with our eldest son running around, bringing us all manner of objects from the house) feeling Appleseed dancing and kicking and making itself known. On one such occasion, the 2nd October, we felt our son doing his morning workout for what would be the last time. 

On the 4th October, at 19 weeks pregnant, we went for a morphology scan, and it was discovered Appleseed had passed away. There was simply no heartbeat to be found.

What happened next was a great whirlwind of events and emotions, including induced Labor and the Birth of Appleseed on the 6th October 2012. Our hearts were in pieces. One thing that helped us enormously was the amount of resources given, support from social workers and our first son creating laughter in our home.

Without the support and resources given to us, I've got no clue as to how we would have been able to walk out of that hospital.

One thing I want for Appleseed, as his mother, is for some good to come from his short life. I have set the goal for us to raise money to provide as many support packages as possible for parents who have lost their child. I dread the thought of someone going through the loss of their child and walking away with nothing to hold in their hands.

Over the next 12 months, I will be pushing myself to new limits, with events, weightloss, and, on the 22nd February 2014, completing the Across the Lake Swim in Lake Taupo. A 4.2km swim in a very bloody cold lake in my husbands home town in New Zealand. Those of you who know me may be aware that swimming is not a strong suit of mine. nor most physical challenges, but this is how determined I am. I am going to push myself WAY out of my comfort zone for this, and I hope you can help me use that to raise money for other parents who find themselves in such an awful situation as having to say goodbye when they should have been saying hello.

There are several ways to donate:

You can sponser me by pledging to donate a certain amount of money per a certain amount of Kilograms lost

You can sponser me on the condition of me finishing The Across the Lake Swim in Taupo

You can participate in the events and fundraising efforts I will be holding over the next 12 months

or

You can simply provide a one-off donation

The Goal?

Bears of Hope have support packages for parents. Each package is $45, and I hope the ultimate goal is that we can provide as many as 500 Packages with all our efforts combined! A bit ambitious, yes, but thats 500 families that are given a shoulder when they feel alone, and when they dont know how to take that next step forward from their sorrow.

In the package it includes

• A bear donated in memory of a family's precious baby
• A brochure "Support and Guidance for Parents who experience a Miscarriage" immediately connecting parents with a support network (Hope Package); or "Creating a Lifetime Of Memories In Just One Moment" Booklet - a must have guide for parents in the first few days of their loss. Includes suggestions on how to create treasured memories with a no regrets outlook, empowering families through their grief and immediately connects parents with our parent support network (Sophie Package and Xavier Package)
• A Candle
• Seeds of Hope (Forget-Me-Not Flowers)
• Journal / Notepad and Pen
• A Photo Frame, with a beautiful poem in it, which can also be engraved on.
• Guidance brochure for family and friends on how to support parents
• Standard Brochure about Bears Of Hope
• Our Song Live Among Angels

Ok guys, I'll keep you all updated on my journey, whether it be journalled on this page or a Blog, and we'll get support for these parents together as a team!

Lets do this together, and make Appleseed's legacy as full and productive as possible!