BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT
1 MOM is 2 Many, a HER Foundation collaborative campaign, is thrilled to announce our new business partnership with David Kopp’s The Hearts of Gold.
As part of 1 MOM is 2 Many, The Hearts of Gold offers financial support through company donations and by listing HER as a chosen nonprofit for their customers. In addition, David created our new jewelry piece with the 1 MOM logo. The purple stone in the center represents Maria because purple was her favorite color. The necklace was a gift for Maria’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law in honor of Maria and will also be sent as a thank you gift for Advocate and Benefactor level donors.
David and his husband first became aware of HG when their neighbor, Mary, was pregnant.
David and his husband David, our neighbors, were there to help me, particularly in the beginning when I was fainting a lot and my husband was still working and I had to care for my toddler at home. They were there to help me change an IV bag several times. They never questioned anything or became squeamish by the site of me or the fragility of the situation, they just helped. They were angels in many ways.
Mary
Mary’s Story
Miles was our rainbow baby. I was so excited when I got pregnant again. Excited and nervous that I would lose another one. But as week 5 entered and the nausea began, I knew this one was sticking. I had a lot of nausea and vomiting with my first son Theo, even until week 30, but I could still work and function and it was never HG. This pregnancy was immediately different. By the end of week 5, I was hospitalized. By week 6, I was vomiting up to 30 times a day, by week 7 I was transported by ambulance to the hospital, by week 8, I had a PICC line. I lost 26 lbs during the first trimester, I was bedridden for the first 25 weeks, and anytime I went to my OB appointments, it was by wheelchair. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t bathe, I was on a cocktail of medication for months on end.
I was miserable. I thought I might die. I thought no medication would work. I had bowel obstructions, heart palpitations, a raw throat, so many days that I just wanted to give up. I’ve always been an optimistic person, but I was losing it. I couldn’t connect to my baby. That made me so sad. As one of my friends who also had HG said, it is “true suffering.”
It was around week 24 that I started to see glimmers of hope. That my attitude started changing. Music helped. Praying helped. Listening to audiotapes in bed, laying completely still. And then I struggled to keep up the hope, to raise my vibration because it felt like no one understood. My sister did. She had HG with her kids, too. She called me nearly everyday. I had three or four people call me nearly everyday, and they were my life line. I had other friends who dropped off the face and that was truly hard. I lost dear friends because of HG. But I gained a truer understanding of who was gold.
David and his husband David, our neighbors, were there to help me, particularly in the beginning when I was fainting a lot and my husband was still working and I had to care for my toddler at home. They were there to help me change an IV bag several times. They never questioned anything or became squeamish by the site of me or the fragility of the situation, they just helped. They were angels in many ways.
When I delivered Miles, it all vanished. It just disappeared. That feeling of being queasy 24/7, that feeling of depression, the rawness in my throat. Our rainbow Miles was pure joy. Still is, as he approaches his first birthday in December.
I also learned what it means to really care for someone. To really show empathy. David and his husband really showed up for me. I will never forget them and am forever grateful. After Miles was born, David told me about the bracelet and if I would write a little blurb about it. I was thrilled and touched and honored. He really understood. He is a kind man, a healer. I’m so glad so many women will be able to receive the bracelet that I wear everyday. May it remind us that we are never alone. That a tribe of women who have been through it before are by our sides, holding our hands.
