National Rainbow Baby Day - August 22

"The term rainbow baby refers to any baby born to parents after a previous pregnancy ended in a loss and comes from the idea that after a storm (the loss), comes sunshine (the pregnancy), and with it, a beautiful rainbow. You might see a lot of posts about it on social media, especially on August 22, which is National Rainbow Baby Day.

Rainbows, and rainbow babies, are a reminder that beautiful things are possible even after fear, uncertainty, and tragedy have happened. They’re also a reminder of how terrible things can make us more appreciative of good things when they occur.

Rainbow baby isn’t the only term that’s popular in the pregnancy and loss community. A double rainbow baby, as you might guess, is a baby born after you’ve had two losses. And a golden baby is a child born after a rainbow, implying that safely delivering two children in a row is equivalent to a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow."  (What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Rainbow Baby)

I've been wanting to write a post on this topic for a while now.  I was going to wait until Max's first birthday, but I guess with August 22 being National Rainbow Baby Day, I can write it sooner.  

While this article touches on the secular meaning of the term rainbow baby, I'd like to touch on the spiritual.  

The rainbow is the sign of God's promise to never again flood the whole earth with water.  

 

It's a promise God has kept, because He's a God who keeps His word.  

 

Max is, in every sense of the word, a rainbow baby.

 

Right before Sarah was born, God gave me a vision of a rainbow, along with her name.  

 

That rainbow signified a promise - God would give us another baby. 

Not one to replace Sarah, but one in addition to her.

 

It was that vision, that rainbow, that I held onto, even after we found out that Max was coming.  After all, we didn't know if Max was the baby God promised us, or not.  We faced all the doubt, fear, guilt, anger, questions, and uncertainty of parents who were both grieving and expecting, and met all those emotions with a small sliver of hope, a trust in God's promise, and a growing joy in the work of God's hands.

 

After the storm, there was a rainbow.  

 

And there was Max.