Here are some resources that I wish I’d found in the days and weeks after my first miscarriage.

Grieving the Child I Never Knew: A Devotional Companion for Comfort in the Loss of Your Unborn or Newly Born By Kathe Wunnenberg Grieving the Child I Never Knew offers comfort and the reassurance of God’s presence as you grieve the loss of a child you never got to know. If you’ve lost a child through miscarriage, tubal pregancy, stillbirth, or early infant death, this devotional will encourage you along your healing journey. Each chapter includes a journaling exercise. Hardcover.

This is the book I searched for but couldn’t find as I was trying to process the first miscarriage. Once I found it, I’ve given it away to each woman I know who has experienced a miscarriage. I probably keep two ready to give at any time. Each person has said how much the book has helped them. I’ve flipped through it and found the short chapters to be vulnerable and helpful. And I like the way it has space to journal inside the book. It also has a great index that helps you find devotionals that are most helpful for what you’re feeling at that time. For example Mother’s Day, anniversary of loss, etc.

Silent Grief: Miscarriage-Child Loss, Finding Your Way Through the Darkness By Clara Hinton More than 200,000 couples experience the shock and grief of first-trimester miscarriage every year. On top of that are the later-term miscarriages and stillbirths that also occur. Clara Hinton not only writes of her own experience, but the experiences of scores of other women and men.

I just found this book and again am flipping through it. It’s not the kind of book you can sit down and read in one setting because of the topic. But so far it’s been helpful — if nothing else it helps to know you’re not alone in what you’re feeling and experiencing.