After the death of her newborn daughter, this New Berlin mom made it her mission to help other bereaved parents – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Posted: January 17, 2020 at 1:44 pm


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Brandon and Lisa Price of New Berlin have two children, Chase and Ari. Ari had Trisomy 13 and died less than 10 hours after she was born in 2017.(Photo: Submitted/ Lori Williamson)

Ari Harper Price was born at 12:24 a.m. April 13, 2017, at Waukesha Memorial Hospital.

She never cried, wanted to be fed or wet her diaper.

At 14 weeks gestation, she was diagnosed withTrisomy 13, or Patau syndrome.

Trisomy 13 is a chromosomal condition associated with severe intellectual disability and physical abnormalities in many parts of the body, according to theU.S. National Library of Medicine.

Only 5 percent to 10 percentof children with this condition live past their first year.

Ari was not one of them. She died at her home in New Berlin less than 10 hours after she was born.

"She passedaway in my arms," said Lisa Price, Ari's mom.

Now, Price has made it her life's mission to help other bereaved parents move forward.

With Price's first pregnancy, she didn't experience morning sickness or even painful contractions during labor.

"I think my body was meant to be pregnant," Price said.

She said her son Chase's birth, in August 2012, was"one of the best days" of her life.

In August 2016, Price found out she was pregnant again and told her husband, Brandon, in an anniversary card.

"Everything felt very similar to my first pregnancy," she said.

When she went to a routine doctor's appointment, her doctor suggested theadvanced maternal age screening test, since she was 36 years old.

With no family history ofchromosomal disorders, diseases or disabilities, Price said theyweren't concerned going into the test.

Then, the results came back positive for a chromosomal disorder.

There was an 80 percentchance that it was a false positive, so Price underwent more testing.

While Price was at the park with Chase and friends, she got thecall with the baby's diagnosis.

"I literally dropped to my knees," Price said. "I was like, this isn't real. This can't be happening."

As the pregnancy progressed, the baby developed holes in her heart, was growing slowly and at one point, had fluid building up on her lungs.

Despite all of this, the baby didn't give up.

For her strength, bravery and courage, the Prices decided to name her Ari, which means "lion of God."

When Lisa and Brandon told their then 4-year-old son about his sister's condition, his response was, "Mom, don't worry. We'll see her again in heaven."

"It was very profound of him to say that," Price said.

Ari Harper Price was born at 12:24 a.m. April 13, 2017 at Waukesha Memorial Hospital.(Photo: Submitted/ Lori Williamson)

After Ari'sdeath, the Prices looked for grief support groups.

Lisa quickly discovered that most of them met at night or Saturday mornings, which conflicted with her job as a dance teacher atYoung Dance AcademyInc. in Oak Creek, where she started taking lessons at 8 years old.

Since a group setting wasn't going to work,Price started seeing a therapist. Butit got to be too expensive, since mental health isn't covered by the family's insurance.

"All of these factors made me realize that there's not enough tangible, consistent, constructive resources that are affordable," she said.

The resources that ended uphelping Price werephysical activity such as lyrical dance and fitness classes,reading books and listening to podcasts about grief,journaling, working with a life coachand her faith.

Price took what she learned through her own grieving and combined it with research to create the4:13 MOVE:ment Method, an online course designed to help other grieving parents.

The course was named after Ari'sbirth/death date, and a Bible verse, Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Price also structured the course to focus on four pillars that span13 weeks.

"People want to hear from somebody who has been through what they're going through and can share their experience," Price said. "It's not the same, but at least they get an idea from what you've been through and the lessons you've learned."

Price consulted withNichole Stangel, bereavement coordinator at Children's Wisconsin, to make sure her content, from word choices to concepts,was "clinically sound," Stangel said.

"You can tell she really took her time and thought about grief, thought about her talents and how they would relate to helping somebody walk through that grief process," Stangel said.

Lisa Price of New Berlin took what she learned through her own grieving and combined it with research to create the4:13 MOVE:ment Method, an online course designed to help other grieving parents.(Photo: Hannah Kirby/ Now News Group)

The first pillar of the course gives an education on grief.

"Everybody experiences it (grief) differently," Price said. "Even if you're grieving over the same person, you feel so alone."

The content starts with understanding grief, then dives into additional facets, includingbuilding a team of supporters, creating healthy boundaries, communicating needs, emotional fitness, self care, relationships, triggers, scheduling time for griefand setting goals.

"I think it could be really helpful for a parent to walk through," Stangel said. "She's coming from experience, so she can get at very specific things that a parent might be experiencing, and then what might be helpful when you're experiencing that."

For Pillar 2, Price leads the course's participants in 14 group coaching calls.

"It's working through being your own advocate and actively participating in your healing," Price said. "It's building up their grief tool kit, so they feel empowered to make choices that serve them well."

The third pillar is centered around creating community, using a private Facebook group for those involved in the course.

"There's so much healing power, not only for yourself, but for other people, when you open up and share what's happened, so you're able to be a guiding light for other people," Price said.

The fourth pillar is about continuing bonds and connection with the child who has died.

"It's coming up with ways we can continue to incorporate them in our daily routines," Price said.

The course, which launched in December, costs $197.

After the completion of the course, Price offers one-on-one coaching and additional content for additional costs.

The course can be found athttps://www.betternotbittermom.com/.

"I just know from my life experience, I had something to share," Price said. "To hold it in would be a disservice to any other parent going through this."

In addition to the course, Price's Better Not Bitter Mom's website has a blog, andresources for bereaved parents andsupporters.

Price also authored an e-book, "At a Loss for Words: What to Say to a Bereaved Parent After the Death of Their Child."

Lisa Price's Better Not Bitter Mom's website has a blog, resources for bereaved parents andsupporters, and a course.(Photo: Hannah Kirby/ Now News Group)

To raise funds for Children's Hospital in honor of the Better Not Bitter Mom's mission, New Berlin Barre District, 14260 W. National Ave., New Berlin, plans to hosta class at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 19.

"If this speaks to you please sign up. Please show up. And if you feel called- please share," the Facebook event said.

The cost is $10, and all of the proceeds will be given to the hospital.Sign-up can be done on theMindBody App.

In the future, Price has aspirations tobuild a bereavement barn "where grief is welcome and welcome to be spoken about."

It would offer grieving parents outlets for healing, including art therapy, restorative yoga,dance, gardeningand cooking, and would have a clinical staff available for consultations.

"If she (Ari) could do all the things she did to make it here to meet us, literallyI can do anything," Price said.

Contact Hannah Kirby at hannah.kirby@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HannahHopeKirby.

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After the death of her newborn daughter, this New Berlin mom made it her mission to help other bereaved parents - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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