WWW.CARSONVALLEYTIMES.COM
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2014
SPECIAL EDITION
Guy
'Our Lives Changed
Forever
The
The
'Our Lives Changed Forever In An Instant'
by Joey Crandall
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Dear Amber,
I appreciated your letter and was saddened to learn of the loss of your daughter …
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“I think the biggest misconception is that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is preventable. Thinking there is anything you can do to stop it.”
Amber Terhune sat next to her husband, Ken, on a living room couch in their Gardnerville Ranchos home last weekend.
Her throat closed on the word, ‘preventable.’
The Terhune’s fourth child, Arianna, was born on Feb. 27, 2008. She was eight weeks pre-term and spent three weeks in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
“She was perfect,” Amber said.
On April 5, 2008, just five weeks after Arianna’s birth, the Terhune’s awoke to find their daughter lifeless in bed.
“Our world caved in from underneath us,” Amber said “Our lives changed forever in an instant.”
They’d learn in the coming weeks that they’d lost their daughter to SIDS. The ‘symptomless syndrome.’ The sudden, unexpected death of an apparently healthy baby under one year of age that remains unexplained after the performance of a complete postmortem investigation, including an autopsy, examination of the scene of death and review of the medical history.
But these were things Amber already knew about. She was a doula, or child birth assistant. She taught classes for the Back-to-Sleep campaign, informing clients how to ‘prevent’ SIDS.
“I was educated,” Amber said. “I thought SIDS only happened to ‘other’ people. People who don’t follow the rules or didn’t know better. I thought my baby would be safe.
“The shock and shame and sense of confusion and failure were paralyzing when my own child died from the very thing I had been teaching others about.”
October is known for being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
It is also SIDS, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.
“I think the biggest misconception is that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is preventable. Thinking there is anything you can do to stop it.”
Amber Terhune sat next to her husband, Ken, on a living room couch in their Gardnerville Ranchos home last weekend.
Her throat closed on the word, ‘preventable.’
The Terhune’s fourth child, Arianna, was born on Feb. 27, 2008. She was eight weeks pre-term and spent three weeks in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
“She was perfect,” Amber said.
On April 5, 2008, just five weeks after Arianna’s birth, the Terhune’s awoke to find their daughter lifeless in bed.
“Our world caved in from underneath us,” Amber said “Our lives changed forever in an instant.”
They’d learn in the coming weeks that they’d lost their daughter to SIDS. The ‘symptomless syndrome.’ The sudden, unexpected death of an apparently healthy baby under one year of age that remains unexplained after the performance of a complete postmortem investigation, including an autopsy, examination of the scene of death and review of the medical history.
But these were things Amber already knew about. She was a doula, or child birth assistant. She taught classes for the Back-to-Sleep campaign, informing clients how to ‘prevent’ SIDS.
“I was educated,” Amber said. “I thought SIDS only happened to ‘other’ people. People who don’t follow the rules or didn’t know better. I thought my baby would be safe.
“The shock and shame and sense of confusion and failure were paralyzing when my own child died from the very thing I had been teaching others about.”
October is known for being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
It is also SIDS, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.