Episode 5: Show Notes
In today’s episode, we are joined by Kaylee Jaeger, who shares her story of finding joy after loss. When her first baby’s heart stopped beating only a few days after his due date, Kaylee didn’t believe that it would be possible for her to find meaning in this tragedy. While there were many difficult days that followed, she ultimately realized that it was up to her to create meaning, to make memories for the child that she had lost even though she couldn’t make memories with him. What follows is an inspirational story of courage, determination, and love as Kaylee ran a race in her son, Lawrence’s memory, and went on to have another baby boy. In this conversation, she speaks candidly about some of her greatest challenges and lessons, emphasizing the importance of finding a support system and focusing on the things you can control rather than dwelling on the things you can’t. This is an episode about finding a new perspective of joy that you won’t want to miss! Tune in today.
Key Points From This Episode:
- An introduction to Kaylee, her family, and the loss of her first baby, Lawrence.
- Kaylee candidly shares her regrets and what she wishes she’d done differently at the time.
- Why waiting two days to deliver her stillborn baby was a blessing in disguise.
- How this tragedy shifted Kaylee and her family’s expectations of the holidays.
- Difficult days that stand out to Kaylee and what we can learn from them.
- One of the turning points that followed and what led her to run a race in Lawrence’s memory.
- The importance of finding a support system that allows you to “love them out loud.”
- Advice for those suffering through the early days of loss: find the things you can control.
- Some of the ways that Kaylee believes Lawrence shows up and ‘winks’ at her.
- The power of connecting with others who have similar stories and sharing your story.
- How Lawrence gave Kaylee a new perspective of love and joy.
Tweetables:
“After we lost Lawrence, I was in this headspace of ‘I need to do something to make memories’, because I’m not going to get any new memories with him. I need to find a way to do things for him or because of him.” — Kaylee Jaeger [0:20:07]
“Guess what? [Life] doesn’t stop. You just have to find a way to be okay. You love them out loud and you find your tribe that are willing to love them and want to love them out loud as well.” — Kaylee Jaeger [0:22:10]
“To be able to connect with people who do have similar stories [that] was healing in itself, just being able to share and feel like I’m not alone.” — Kaylee Jaeger [0:28:55]
“Lawrence taught us how to love harder and love bigger. I feel like he gave us this perspective of [joy], even the moments you shouldn’t normally enjoy, like the tantrums and the screaming. I feel like you look at things a little bit differently. You soak them in and you cherish them differently.” — Kaylee Jaeger [0:33:54]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
