The Empty Arms Podcast -- real stories of miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss.

In this episode, I sit down with Lindsay Dolloff, an OB nurse whose journey through loss has reshaped her perspective both personally and professionally. Diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis, Lindsay was encouraged to start trying for a baby right away. She and her husband were thrilled to conceive quickly, but their joy was short-lived. Lindsay experienced a partial molar pregnancy, an incredibly rare and devastating complication, which resulted in a miscarriage at 12 weeks. Her loss was compounded by months of regular blood work and followup care.

Through it all, Lindsay found a way to channel her pain into purpose. She shares how her loss has made her a more empathetic OB nurse, allowing her to connect deeply with her patients. As a passionate member of Empty Arms, Lindsay has not only shared her story but has also played a pivotal role in creating a TTC (Trying to Conceive) support group, offering hope and guidance to others navigating similar struggles.

In this episode, we explore the courage it takes to live your loss out loud. Lindsay delves into how openly sharing her journey has been an act of courage, allowing her to reclaim her story and find meaning in her pain. By speaking about her experience, she not only fosters healing for herself but also creates space for others to feel seen and understood. Living your loss out loud is about breaking the silence around grief, embracing vulnerability, and finding strength in community. Lindsay's story is a testament to the power of shared experiences and the hope that can emerge when we allow ourselves to be truly seen.

This episode is sponosred by First National Wealth Management.

In this moving episode the love stays, Sara Rian shares her journey of navigating grief and transforming it into art and healing. A grief poet and therapist, Sara turned to poetry after the traumatic suicide of her mother, channeling her pain into words that resonate with countless others experiencing loss. Through her work, she highlights how grief, no matter its origin, connects us through shared emotions and the longing for what could have been. Sara also reflects on her role as a sister and an aunt, deeply affected by the loss of her niece, Sahara, who passed at 17 weeks. The parallels between these losses—though vastly different in circumstance—reveal the universal truths of grief: love, longing, and the need for community and remembrance.

The episode explores how grief doesn't adhere to hierarchies or comparisons; instead, it carves a unique yet familiar path for each person. Whether mourning a parent, a child, or anyone in between, Sara emphasizes that the rawness of loss carries common threads: a yearning for connection, the challenge of finding meaning, and the power of honoring memories through creative expression. By sharing her poetry, her personal story, and the lessons grief has taught her, Sara invites listeners to see grief as both deeply personal and profoundly unifying—a space where we can all find connection and hope. The love stays is about exactly that; though the person you loved is gone, the love you shared always stays.

In this episode, we sit down with Emily Long, a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, author, and fierce advocate for grieving parents, as she shares her story of unimaginable loss and the journey toward healing. Emily's life has been marked by deep sorrow, from the passing of her fiancé and their unborn child to the struggles she's faced with depression and grief. Yet through the darkest times, she discovered a powerful truth: speaking the unspeakable—the heartbreak we often bury deep within—can be a catalyst for healing.

This episode is a heartfelt invitation to release the weight of silent sorrow and find strength through vulnerability. Whether you're grieving or supporting someone who is, join us as we explore the courage it takes to honor our losses out loud—and the unbreakable hope that comes when we do.

This episode is sponosred by True North Chiropractic.

In this deeply moving episode, we sit down with two remarkable women who share an unimaginable bond. One day, co-coworkers. The next, loss moms walking this journey alongside of eachother. Just 12 days apart, they each lost their daughters in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Together, we explore their individual journeys of grief and how losing their daughters changed their lives forever. Their vulnerability shines through as they share the heart-wrenching moments of their losses and the strength they found in one another. This episode is a testament to the unbreakable connection that can form through shared experiences, no matter how painful.

We also discuss the critical role community plays in grief, and how, by sharing the weight of their sorrow, they were able to heal just a little bit more. Their story is a reminder that while grief may feel isolating, finding someone who truly understands can be the first step towards light.

This is a conversation about grief, connection, and the incredible strength found in the most unexpected of places.

This episode is sponsored by Snowman Printing Group.

In this episode, I had the profound honor of sitting down with Jaime and Gina, two incredible sonographers and loss moms who serve as a vital lifeline for grieving parents in our community. As professionals who work closely with bereaved families, they open up about the deeply emotional nature of their work and how their personal experiences as loss moms shape the care and compassion they bring to each family they support.

Jaime and Gina provide powerful insights into the heartache of their profession—being with parents at the most devastating moments of their lives—while also sharing how, through their partnership with Empty Arms, they are able to offer hope and healing. They speak about the delicate balance between their own grief and the strength they find to help others, all while acknowledging the profound impact that loss has on the families they work with and on themselves as caregivers.

Throughout the conversation, we explore how Empty Arms has been a key resource, allowing them to not only offer clinical care but also emotional and spiritual support to those navigating pregnancy and infant loss. Their stories are a testament to the importance of empathy, community, and shared understanding in the grieving process.

This episode is sponosred by Downeast OBGYN.

In this deeply moving episode of "Unbreakable Hope," we delve into the extraordinary journey of one remarkable mother who faced unimaginable heartbreak and yet remained steadfast in her hope for the future. Our guest Alicia, a mother who has navigated the tumultuous waters of seven heartbreaking losses and three adoptions, shares her poignant story of grief, faith, and unbreakable hope.

From the very beginning, her story captures the raw essence of what it means to endure profound sorrow. Each loss was a deep, personal tragedy, yet through the tears and despair, she found solace and strength in her faith. This episode paints a vivid picture of a woman who, despite the crushing weight of her experiences, never lost sight of the light that guided her—her hope in God and her belief in a future filled with promise.

The journey through adoption added a new layer of complexity and beauty to her narrative. Each adoption was not just a new beginning but a profound act of love and faith—a way of embracing the future despite the shadows of the past. The way she describes these moments of joy interspersed with her ongoing sorrow offers a powerful reminder that the human spirit can find light even when surrounded by darkness.

This episode is sponsored by The Learning Garden.

Amber joins the podcast to talk about her daughter Nash, the precious one she lost at birth. Amber talks with me about her pregnancy, the devastating diagnosis Nash received while in utero, the ways she coped with navigating the grief that news brought as well as her experience delivering and ultimately saying goodbye to the daughter her heart longed to keep. Amber bravely talks about how her and her family continue to keep her late daughter's legacy alive in all the places her absence is felt so profoundly.

This episode is generously sponosored by Maguire Carpentry & Roofing.

Jenny Davidson joins me on the podcast. In addition to making BBC's 100 Women in 2018, Jenny is a fierce advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and aged-out foster youth. This passion for making the world a better place for the children that get to stay comes deep from within her own heart and soul as she too carries several babies in her heart and not her arms.

Through her experience of traveling the path of loss, Jenny openly shares with us the heartache she experienced through her sons Trisomy 18 diagnosis, the joy in his birth and the devastation she felt after he lived just 32 hours and 7 minutes. Her heartache didn't stop there as she continued on to have several miscarriages after the loss of her son. Through it all, Jenny clung to the hope that she could use her own tragic experience to make this world a better place for so many.

Jenny is the founder and current CEO of AcademySTAY, a non-profit dedicated to helping 18-24 year old aged-out foster youth who are trying to pursue a secondary education. Prior to this, Jenny was the CEO/ Executive Director at Stand Up Placer, an organzation committed to standing up and education communities against domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. Jenny is a remarkable woman and I am so thrilled to have her on the podcast.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46225037

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennydavidsonmba/

https://www.academystay.org

https://standupplacer.org

Misha is no stranger to the havoc pregnancy loss and infertility can wrek on a woman and a marriage. Misha joins me on the podcast to share her own experience of walking through storm after storm as her and her partner began the process of starting their family. After years of unsuccessfully getting pregnant on her own, she began walking through IVF, a decision that came with many reservations and lots of cultural shame.

Through it all, Misha clung to the hope that one day, her rainbow baby would be in her arms. As a hispanic woman, Misha found that throughout her journey, she longed for women's voices like hers to speak into the most dark corners of her journey. When she continually came up short and was unable to find those voices, Misha found her own and decided to write a book to both inspire and encourage the women of her culture and beyond.

During her years' long period of treatments to face infertility and pregnancy loss, Vargas wrote letters to capture her memories and deal with her intense emotions. Cartas A Mi Hijo No Nacido (Letters to my Unborn Son) reveals the vulnerability and complexity of experiences that are often hidden in public conversations about motherhood. This is the story of a young woman's unforgettable journey from desperation to hope, and –ultimately – to joy. https://www.penbaypilot.com/article/author-misha-vargas-discuss-cartas-mi-hijo-no-nacido-march-10/183664

Misha's book can be purcahsed here. https://a.co/d/0gG0u3W9

The episode is sponosored by Holly No. 7 Birthing Center in Bangor, Maine.

Though Ryan came into this world at a mere 2 lbs, he sure took up a tremendous amount of space in his families heart. Deb Dilworth, a fellow loss mom and current board member of Empty Arms of Greater Bangor comes on the podcast and shares her story of navigating the birth of a child with Trisomy 18. Ryan lived 5 weeks and in that time, changed the course of Deb and her husbands life. Deb shares with us the joy in his birth, the heartache in his loss and the ways in which her family have navigated loss in the decades that have passed since his death. Clinging to her strong faith, Deb beautifully recounts Ryan's life and shares with us how her sons Trisomy 18 diagnosis impacted not just her but her husband and her living children. A beautiful conversation about life, loss, love and everything in-between.

This episode is sponsored by Ski Rack Sports in Bangor, Maine.