angel

Please be warned. The LO that follows may be distressing. Look away NOW if you need to....

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This is one of the three photos that were taken at the hospital after Levi died. The sister on duty insisted on getting the camera out and taking them, and thank God she did, because in WA that was no longer standard practice at the Coroners' Office, AND every photo I had taken of him up till this point was lost due to a faulty camera. So this is all I have to remind me of how he looked at almost 7 weeks of age.

I had no idea how to scrap these photos. My style is very simple and I wanted the photos to be the centre of attention. Sometimes I think they look a little stark -- but hell, it was a pretty stark kind of day, you know?

congratulations

I made a pocket to store all the congratulations cards I received. One day I'll do the same for the sympathy cards. I'll need two or maybe 3 pages for those, though.

missing you

I have only two photos of Levi alive. SO I have scrapped this one a few times in different ways.

the hospital 'stuff'

I didn't want to throw away anything, so I scrapped the cards and stuff from the bassinette thingy in hospital as well. This is one of my very early pages, and one of the few that I got to do as a baby page.

ultrasounds....

What to do with ultrasound photos? Well, firstly, be VERY careful. I have heard that some scanners can destroy them, so I used my originals. I also included the report, and my antenatal cards (I've blurred out my doctors' name etc)
Some time after he was gone, I realised that sometimes it felt like he'd been a dream. My focus on this page was partly to show that he HAD been here, alive, a real person, even if it was only for a short time.
Hence the title (Proof of Life) and the red circle I drew round the word LIVE in the ultrasound report.

my title page

This is the title page for Levis' album. To make it, I used this gorgeous textured paper with silver stars all over it, and a scrap of silver paper under his name. The clear plastic frame I had had for a long time.
I used the lyrics from a song we played at his funeral, as well, because I love it so much, and often listen to it.

What do I put in the album?

Short answer - whatever you want.

I think chronologically, so I started with pregnancy stuff (ante-natal cards, ultrasound pics etc) -- then did all the birth stuff like announcements, cards, the stuff from his hospital 'bed' thingy, birth certificate, the Medicare card with his name on it -- and the two photos I have of him alive. Anything that showed he was a person, he was real, he was here.

Then I moved on to the rest of it -- I kept everything I could, and I'm slowly getting that all safely scrapped and stored. I plan to include the autopsy report, the death certificate, all the cards and notes I received -- because it all means something to me. I want it all included to show it's importance.

But that is my personal decision. You need to only include what you are comfortable with, and remember that can change at any time and you can add or take things away.

I'll be putting some pages from Levis' album up soon. Like, maybe next week if I can get my act together.