A New Jersey couple who lost their baby found comfort in their grief thanks to a small memento.
When they misplaced the little stuffed bear, they thought the link to their infant son was gone forever – until a stranger stepped in.
Like most first time parents, Lauren and Chad Chamides anxiously awaited their son Micah’s arrival, sharing sonogram photos and Lauren’s baby bump.
“Every single time we went, the ultrasound was good,” says Lauren.
At 38 1/2 weeks, Lauren noticed Micah wasn’t moving as much. They took a trip to the hospital forever changed their lives.
“They found no heartbeat, our baby had passed away.”
After Lauren gave birth, nurses gave the couple a memory box for Micah, including a small blue bear. The family kept the bear with their baby boy as they held and spent time with him.
“We took a lot of pictures,” says Chad “The family took pictures and bear was laying next to him you know as if he was comforted by the bear.”
Bear, as they affectionately call him, has been everywhere with them ever since – even with them as their second son, Hayden was born.
“With Lauren while she was in labor and everything and the bear we feel is like Micah being with us.”
Recently, Hayden was at Hackensack University Medical Center for a bronchial infection. When the family left the hospital, Lauren realized someone was missing.
“And she had come over to me and said, Bear, I didn’t pack Bear,” says Chad. “The hospital did everything they could to help, they looked everywhere.”
With no sign of Bear, Chad posted his picture and their story on Facebook.
(“I was watching the shares. It was going from a hundred, to all of a sudden 600 and then a thousand.”
More than 2,000 shares later it reached Dina Newhard, of Spotswood, a stranger who realized she had the same bear and drove to the hospital with it.
“As soon as I saw it I said, someone needs him, I have him. I can’t even describe to you how happy I am to give it to them, especially under the circumstances. I would want it so I mean, it touched me.”
“I firmly believe in signs from up above,” says Lauren. “I believe that this was the biggest sign Micah was sending us.”
“To reach out and help someone that’s gone through something that they have no connection to whatsoever brings happiness to something that was very tragic in our life,” says Chad. “We call him Bear 2.”
