A woman from Minnesota is sharing her unique perspective on miscarriage after losing her unborn baby just two weeks after learning she was pregnant.
Shelly Mettling, 28, was thrilled when she and her husband Matt learned they were expecting their first child two weeks ago. Then, earlier this week, she suffered a miscarriage.
Shelley was heartbroken — but she was also grateful, and explained why in a lengthy Instagram post that has earned her international attention.
Unique perspective: Shelly Mettling, 28, found out she was pregnant two weeks ago, but lost the baby this week — and went on to share why she is ‘grateful’ on Instagram
It was still very early in her first trimester when, early this week, Shelley realized she was miscarrying.
The 72 hours that followed were terrible, with time spent in the hospital experiencing many different overwhelming emotions. But while there are definitely a true sense of loss, Shelley also felt blessed.
When they first found out about the pregnancy, they were ‘excited, nervous, and extremely grateful’. Immediately after miscarrying, she said she felt ‘angry, emotional, sad, confused, and frustrated’.
The gratefulness, though, didn’t go away. Despite losing her baby, she said she feels grateful that she got to feel the ‘power of motherhood’, even if it was just for a short time.
Feelings: Though she and her husband Matt are ‘angry, emotional, sad, confused, and frustrated’, she is also grateful to have experienced ‘the power of motherhood
Love: She also said she is grateful for her friends and family supporting her
She is grateful to have experienced ‘the bond that a woman feels the instant she finds out she is growing a little human in her belly’, a love for someone she hadn’t even met, and the love of her family and friends, who have been looking out for her.
Lastly, she’s ‘grateful for the mindset I’ve been working on daily the past two years, and the fact that through all this pain I’m able to still see that there is purpose in all this madness!’
‘I’m sad, I’m heartbroken, I’m torn to pieces… but I’m grateful,’ she wrote, adding that life still has miracles in store for her.
Shelley’s followers were quick to send words of support and applaud her positive attitude.
The next day, she wrote more on the subject, noting that while she feels grateful, this is still the ‘most emotionally and sometimes physically painful thing we could ever endure as a female’ — and she hopes her words and her story will help other women going through something similar.
Not alone: Shelley wants to tell her story to help other women going through the same thing
Looking at Facebook, she said, ‘It seems to be that every other couple has a mom & dad coffee mug with little booties in between… INSERT KNIFE TO THE [HEART] HERE.’
Everywhere, there are reminders of what she lost: She sees mothers out with their new babies, TV shows with children, invitations to baby showers. Sometimes, she and her husband feel angry — and then they feel ashamed for that anger, when they know there is love and support around them
‘It’s not over! It will never be over! We will always carry this pain! and we will always feel powerless about the situation that occurred! And although we can’t control what happened we can control how we handle it!’ she wrote.
‘Personally, I plan on handling it with purpose [by] sharing my story.’