Inside the Circle of Care:

Weekly Reflections from a Postpartum Support Group

Every week the postpartum group members share the good and the bad from the previous week. I asked them if it would be okay for me to take notes and they wanted to know why. I told them I think of them throughout the week and I want to be really intentional about what I hope for each of them. A few mouths fell open. "You mean, you're praying for us?"

Today, I asked them if I could share with a broader group of people who care. Again, they hard a hard time believing that the circle of concern extends beyond the room we were sitting in. It was such a joy to share with them that the circle is wide and deep and growing by the day.

Here are some of the highs shared this week:
"I got to see my baby for the first time in 4 months this weekend. He's so healthy and fat! Even his eyelids have little rolls!" 
"My high is being here right now."
"I know my son is being well cared for right now"
"My friend went home yesterday."
"I read 5 books in the last 5 days."
" I talked to C. last night on the phone [she's a former member of our group who was released earlier in the week] and she was sitting at home holding her baby as we talked."

And if you have a moment, please hold these sorrows and send some special love to the women who expressed these losses and fears:
"I haven't had a schedule since February so I can't get to the library to check out books. I just sit around most days feeling like I'm going crazy"
"I talked to my son last night and he told me he was hungry. I'm worried my husband only has enough money for the rent so he's really not able to buy enough food for our two children. Hearing my four-year-old say he was hungry was so awful."
"My daughter has to go to the hospital tomorrow, they think something is wrong with her liver. I can't be there, obviously."
"No one has added any time to my phone, so I can't call my family, and I miss their voices"

Thanks for being part of our circle.