Joseff and Marlena Diedrich founded Acts of Grace in November of 2007. The foundation was inspired after the loss of their daughter and Elle Jo's twin sister, Grace. The Diedrich Family experienced what many experience during pregnancy: hospital bedrest. Marlena shares a few thoughts of their experience and inspiration below.
In March of 2007 we found out we were having twins. We were extremely excited and proud, we told anyone we met and everyone we knew! We spent the next months preparing for the arrival of our two girls. Our due date of October 17, 2007 could not come soon enough! The pregnancy was going great and I was enjoying every moment of our journey. The girls were developing on target and I was honored to be able to carry our two baby girls. The morning of August 13, 2007 (30 weeks gestation) I called my doctor due to some concerns of pre term labor. We were told to meet our doctor on the labor and delivery floor of Sky Ridge Medical Center. Shortly after our arrival, I was told I was in labor due to complications with our Baby Grace. We were advised to spend the duration of the pregnancy in the hospital on bed rest to receive a number of IV/oral medications and for monitoring of our girls. August 17, I was transferred to Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center in anticipation of Grace’s delivery. I cried all day on that Friday. I did not want to leave my loving doctor’s care nor did I want to face the reality that I was having a high-risk pregnancy. I was afraid of being under a different medical group's care, was fearful of the unknown and was saddened that one of our girls was having life threatening complications. I thought I was in a nightmare, I could not believe what was happening. Our first days at P/SL we were visited by a number of specialists advising us of Grace's poor prognosis and what we could expect at the delivery. The plan was to get me to 36 weeks gestation keeping me on the IV/oral medication to control my labor and continue to assess Grace's unknown condition through further testing. This news was overwhelming for us. We had many fears of the unknown and felt completely isolated. How could this be happening to us?!?!? Wanting to sit in my room and cry all day, my parents and Joe highly encouraged me to go to the pool at P/SL. After two days of their "encouragement" I decided to go. After a few days of attending the pool at P/SL, I realized there were other women in similar situations and realized how therapeutic it was to interact with them. I slowly became more comfortable with the routine. Room 318 on the ante partum unit became our home for the next 6 weeks. During the stay Joe and I began enjoying the simpler things in life and realized our lack of appreciation for them. A wheelchair ride outside or to the gift shop, an occasional home-cooked meal, playing yahtzee and uno, eating ice cream, reading the message board on our care page, the monitoring of our girls' heartbeats and bonding with the other high-risk moms during pool time were the highlights of my days at P/SL. I also realized many of the women admitted to P/SL were completely alone. I always had a family member or Joe with me at my side and outside support from co workers, our church and friends. Our situation could have been more difficult if we lived further away and did not have the network of support we did.
On September 27, 2007 (37 weeks gestation) our two beautiful daughters Elle Jo and Grace Diedrich were delivered. Elle Jo was able to stay to live with us and Grace was taken to live with her Heavenly Father.
Weeks after being back home, I could not stop thinking about my time in the hospital and how much support we received. We were inspired by the courage demonstrated by the founders of "Care Pages" “There with Care” and “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep” Foundations. We were also so grateful for the loving amount of support we received from our families, friends, co-workers, and our church family. I also could not stop thinking about the high risk women with their various situations. Joe and I knew there was a need to provide services to these moms. If we did not fill that need, who would? The night before Thanksgiving of 2007 I told Joe and my dad I wanted to start my own foundation, thus the start of Acts of Grace. Acts of Grace Foundation is also an honorable way we can remember our daughter Grace through serving others. Marlena Diedrich, January 2008
