Honoring your survival without pretending it didn't cost you.

If accreta ended with a hysterectomy, the months that follow can hold feelings you didn't expect. This is a place to make space for mourning while still honoring what you came through.

Loss of fertility

This is a real loss, worth grieving — whether or not you were "done" having children. Even the loss of choice is its own grief. You're allowed to mourn it, fully, even while you're grateful to be alive.

Identity and womanhood

Womanhood does not live in a uterus — and that idea can still stir up complicated feelings anyway. Both can be true. You are not less whole.

Grief that may surprise you

Grief can arrive late and sideways — at a baby shower, on an anniversary, at a period that won't come. That's normal, not regression.

Body changes

Coming home to a changed body takes time. Scars can be evidence of survival. Be patient with the process of feeling like yourself again. Bring any medical or hormonal questions to your physician.

Hormonal questions to ask your physician

Sexuality and intimacy

Desire, comfort, and self-image can all shift. Patience and honest communication help, and so can support — pelvic health providers and therapists who work in this area. Nothing about you is broken.

Partner communication

Let your partner in on your grief, and let them grieve too. You can stay connected through this rather than carrying it alone.

All of it, at once

Anger, sadness, relief, and gratitude can coexist. No feeling here is wrong. Making room for the whole contradictory mix — rather than forcing it into one tidy emotion — is the work, and it's worth it.

Journal prompts