Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Offical records

Caleb's birth certificate came today. I finally was ready to get a copy of it, plus we needed it for taxes, so it was good timing.

It was a bit startling, because there's a giant "deceased" stamp across it. I guess I didn't realize they did that. But I'm so glad to have it and that it exists, period. I know not every state issues birth certificates to babies born at Caleb's gestational age, but here in Nebraska, a baby born with a heartbeat is considered a live birth and gets one. It's such a relief to know that there's an official, real record of his short time on earth - that in 100 years if someone is looking up the history of our family, his name will be right there. Proof positive. He wasn't just a figment of my imagination, though sometimes it feels like it was all a dream.

I had to laugh, though, because they spelled my middle name wrong. Whoops. It'd be a funny story to share with him when he got older if he was around to do so.  ::sniff::

5 comments:

  1. Eeek, the big deceased across it made me cringe. Thanks for the reminder, jack asses! I am happy you did get it though. ((hugs))

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  2. Wow. I got goosebumps reading this... that's awesome that you have it. Your little baby angel is watching over you and his sister :-)

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  3. We got Oliver's certificate for tax time, too. I celebrate that he was born alive! It's just nice to have that acknowledgement from the government that my son was officially a living person, even for just a few moments.

    My husband is a tax accountant, and he heard someone say that claiming a baby who had died was somehow offensive to the memory, but I feel like little things like tax forms and birth certificates are how we acknowledge and remember. So often the loss of a newborn gets swept under the rug, and nobody wants to talk about it, and I feel like we have to do all of those little things to show that we remember.

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  4. Hey Lara! I am awarding you the Stylish Blogger Award! Please link back to my blog for the rules and the blog award image!

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  5. That's nice you got that. We got nothing for our daughter because she never took a breath, even though her heart was beating. Breaks my heart. I did an obit in the paper so at least there was something written to show she existed.

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