* Have a necklace or other jewelry piece made with your baby's name and/or birthstone on it.
* Donate money in memory of your baby to a charity.
* Release a helium-filled balloon with your baby's name written on it.
* Write a poem, paint a picture, make crafts to memorialize your baby. In Heidi Faith's book, The Invisible Pregnancy: Give Birth to Healing, she takes the reader step-by-step through creating a piece (art, writing, ect) as part of the pathway to healing--a way to get in touch with your grief and give birth to healing. It's an excellent read for navigating your way through grief after losing a baby, beautifully written and thought-provoking.
* If you haven't done so, consider holding a memorial service for your baby--regardless of the trimester in which he or she passed away--as a way of publicly recognizing your child's life and death. The service does not need to be expensive or complicated, and can be as big or as intimate as you want it to be. Stillbirthday has chaplains who are specifically trained for this very purpose and can guide you through the process. You can find a listing of their SBD trained chaplains in your area by clicking here. Often their service is free of charge to bereaved families, be sure to ask.
* Create a scrapbook remembering your baby. Include pregnancy photos, ultrasound pictures, written thoughts and memories you had of that time, and any mementos you may want to place in the book.
* In family pictures, use a special stuffed animal as a stand-in for your baby--as a way to symbolize where your child would have been in the picture. I would suggest that this be a stuffed animal that was given to you for the baby, or one that reminds you of your baby when you hold it. Use the same stuffed animal each time you have a new family photo taken.
* Keep a journal. Write about your pregnancy, about the loss of your baby, about your thoughts of your baby as you grieve your child. Write poems for your baby, for yourself. Write about your grief, your anger, your confusion, your fears, your happiness, your guilt. This is your special journal, nothing is taboo, and it can be very healing to write it all out.
* Purchase a special candle to light in honor of your baby. Light the candle on any days that remind you of your child. The date of his birth, his death, his due date, Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, ect. Candles have long been a symbol that the light of the person's life continues on even after death.
Feel free to share with myself and others in the comments below, ways you have memorialized your baby. Also, visit our Butterfly Wall to add your baby's name as another way to remember your butterfly baby.