Putting a face on miscarriage, stillbirth and infant loss
Odette
Mom to Sylas
Lost May 11, 2012
On May 11, 2012 I gave birth to my baby boy Sylas. He was a few days shy of six months. He was strangled by the cord. I was unable to get pregnant, so I thought, due to undetermined infertility. I had tried for 6 years with my ex-husband and then later with a boyfriend of two years. I got pregnant from my lover and of course it was a complete surprise. [Read more...]
Candace
Mom to Scarlett
Born and died September 19, 2012
and
Aiden
Born and died September 20, 2012
Fontana, California
I felt like we had been awaiting these babies for over two years; with all the planning and hurdles we had to get through, this was finally going to be the big reward. We were finally going to have these babies in our arms, only three or four more months to go. Then everything changed and we were in the battle to save our babies lives. We never thought this was the one battle we would lose. [Read more...]
Bethany
Three ectopic pregnancies:
January 8, 2009 (9 weeks),
January 8, 2010 (5 weeks),
and
December 13, 2011 (5w5d with a heartbeat)
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania
My name is Bethany Anderson. My husband and I live in a small rural community in Pennsylvania called Mercersburg. I am twenty-two years-old and my husband, Thomas, is twenty-eight. Thomas and I have been together for almost 5 years and we were married in August of 2011. We have a dog, which is like my child, Chino Taco Anderson. My husband has a son, named Cadon, who is now 6 years old. Although I wish he would be with us every single day, he lives with his mother and we don’t get to see him as often as we’d like. We were told the only way for us to conceive after our extremely difficult losses, was through in-vitro fertilization. This is our infertility story. [Read more...]
Samantha
Mom to nine lost children:
#1 Oct 2007: Miscarriage at 6 weeks,
#2 Aug 2008: Miscarriage at 5 weeks,
#3 June 2011: Twin loss at 8 weeks,
#4 Aug 2011: Miscarriage at 5 weeks,
#5 Oct 2011: Miscarriage at 4 week 2 days,
#6 Feb 2012: Miscarriage at 4 weeks,
#7 March 2012: Miscarriage at 4 weeks 3 days,
and
#8 April 2012: Miscarriage of a little boy at 8 weeks
Ended with D&C on June 6, 2012
North Vernon, Indiana
I was one of those girls who wanted a large family with a home of my own and a fantastic husband. Well, I got part of my wish: I have my husband Troy and an amazing little boy, Kyle, who we love so much. Beginning our family did not start out so easily, though. [Read more...]
Kristina
Mom to Baby Mamott
Lost September 22, 2012
Buffalo, New York
I delivered my 16 week old baby on 9-22-12. I sit here in my bed, in pain, feeling like I’m suffocating…wondering how this could happen to me.
I worked so hard for this baby. Being a mother has been my only dream. I finally met the man of my dreams later in life, and we started to work on building a family. I’m 36 and after 6 months of trying to conceive, I went to a fertility specialist, only to learn that I wasn’t ovulating. We found the cure, but it took several months of going through painful procedures and treatments, including hormone injections. My dream finally came true! I was pregnant. ME! Good ol’ pregnant me! [Read more...]
Mandie
Mom to McKenna Rowan
Miscarried at 8 weeks pregnant
(October 2008 –November 2008)
Fort Wayne, Indiana
When my husband and I married in October of 2006, we decided that we were going to start trying to conceive right away. Maybe I just knew deep down that something was wrong, maybe it was just luck, but I thought that it made more sense to try earlier than later. A month went by, then two, then 6, then a year. Even though I had no diagnosis, I knew that something was wrong. “We are in our early twenties; we should be pregnant by now!” I sobbed to my husband. Another year passed and our second anniversary approached, still childless. I had just resigned myself to the point where I was getting ready to admit defeat. Then, one night, while waiting for our staff meeting, I randomly broke down in tears. While the last two years had been emotionally rough, it was not at all like me to just randomly break down like that. I thought it was weird, but I brushed it off and went to the meeting. The next morning, I woke up and was getting ready for work and broke down again. My husband walked by and asked if I was ok, commenting, “It’s not like you to be so emotional.” [Read more...]
Nicole
Ectopic pregnancy
September 2009
Dartmouth. Nova Scotia, Canada
In 2009, I was 22 and probably the happiest person in the world. I had a wonderful boyfriend, the best family and friends in the world, a great job, and a sweet puppy; life was good.
Anyway…HAPPY…my boyfriend and I had just bought a house, on a lake, by a beautiful beach, just the perfect little place for 2 people starting out! We both had alright jobs, and while we didn’t have any immediate plans for the future we just knew we wanted to be together!! [Read more...]
Rebecca
Mom to Drake
Born and died November 18, 2011
We had given up; all the tests at the fertility clinic showed the only thing preventing us from getting pregnant was my PCOS and that I’d have to lose some weight and keep track of ovulation and it would happen. That was in January 2011; by summer we had decided that we would focus on us, and if a baby was in our cards then it would happen. It was too stressful to go 5 times a week, sometimes an hour away, to have the ultrasounds for ovulation, and expensive! June passed and we had great fun going to the beach, July passed and we drank beers at the local amusement park and rode roller coasters ‘til they closed, August passed and we were looking forward to getting ready for our favorite holiday- Halloween. I missed a period but that was nothing unusual because of my PCOS, so I didn’t think anything of it, I had no morning sickness and I was actually losing weight. September is here and fall is starting to creep in, another month with no period and I felt fine but I decided to test one day just for the heck of it- I peed on the stick and went about my housecleaning and came back 5 minutes later…POSITIVE! [Read more...]
Tricia
Mom to an angel
Miscarried February 16, 2012
Hickory, North Carolina
My husband and I got married September 3, 2010 and began trying to conceive pretty much right away. I had very irregular cycles already and I decided to see my doctor about having some tests done. I was diagnosed with PCOS in May of 2011. After discovering I am resistant to oral fertility medications and one failed round of intra-uterine insemination, we decided to take a break from fertility treatments. I was not expecting to be able to become pregnant on my own in the mean time. [Read more...]
Rebecca
Mom to Poppy Kate
Born still December 15, 2011,
Five tiny angels, each lost at 5 weeks
April 2009, April 2010 and November 2010,
and
Heterotopic twins (one ectopic, one uterine)
Lost at 6 weeks and 11 weeks in January 2011
Melbourne, Australia
From Rebecca’s blog post: 2011…the year that, well, sucked:
It seems as though the best place to start is to get all of the terrible, awful stuff that happened last year out on the table, so you know what you’re getting into. It gives you some perspective as to where I’m coming from. Don’t get me wrong, my life is definitely not crap. I have a wonderful husband, let’s call him G, and he’s my soul mate and my strength. Not to mention the love of my life 
. We have a little boy, Xavier, who is known by many nicknames, including ‘X’, ‘Xav’, ‘Xavi’ and ‘Trouble’. He took a bit of work to get, 2 years of TTC and 6 months of the fertility drug, Clomid, before we fell pregnant with him. Xavier is now 5, and about to start school. We have a great extended family; G’s parents and my dad and his partner all live nearby, along with a couple of our siblings. Everyone else lives near enough that we see them often and we have an array of nieces and nephews (even a grand niece!) who Xav loves playing with. We have great friends and workmates, who are a big support to us and lots of fun to hang out with! [Read more...]
LaTanya
Mom to Kennedy Joi
Born April 14, 2012 at 24 weeks
Died May 21, 2012
Chicago, Illinois
My water broke week 22 of my pregnancy. A pregnancy that we had been working at for the past year and half and finally, through the use of 3 IUI sessions, Kennedy Joi was conceived in November 2011. I had a great pregnancy, no morning sickness, adjusted really well but nervous up through the 1st trimester, so was not very open until we got past that 12 week mark. Being pretty healthy before pregnancy and not having any real problems, my water breaking at 22 weeks was alarming for my husband and me. We assumed with all the medical advancements that it would be something that could be fixed, but after being in hospital for 2 days and having numerous ultrasounds, we knew we were in for something more. [Read more...]
Amy
Mom to Eli Walker Weatherly
Born still April 18, 2012
Dallas, Texas
After 3 years of marriage, and serious struggles with infertility, my husband and I finally conceived our first child together. He was a boy, who we named Eli Walker. We could not have been any happier to find out that the week of our 3rd wedding anniversary we had finally been given the answer to our prayers. A baby. A baby boy, nonetheless. We went through the first 13 weeks as happy as two clams in our shells. There was nothing that could bring us down off of the high that we experienced knowing that we were going to finally start a family after such a tough journey with infertility. At 14 weeks we got a call from the maternal-fetal specialist that my OB had sent me to for a preliminary Downs Syndrome scan. The results of that test showed that our baby had a 1 in 11 chance of having Trisomy 13 or 18, but no risk of Downs. Trisomy 13 & 18 are little more than a death sentence of the chromosomal deficiency type. We did every test available, with the exception of an amniocentesis, to determine if he was going to be affected with T 13 or T18. After 4 weeks of tests and waiting for results, we got the answer that we were hoping for. No evidence of T 13 or 18 with Eli. Praise God! [Read more...]
Kirsten
Mom to an unnamed baby
Lost at 5 weeks on October 15, 1997 at 5 weeks,
‘Dot’, lost September 4, 2010 at 5 weeks,
and
‘Bert and Ernie’, lost March 2, 2011 at 5 weeks
Auckland, New Zealand
My first pregnancy was an accident. And I didn’t know anything about it until it was all over. And while I was upset, I wasn’t devastated. I was 19 and in my second year of university, had split up with the father and really didn’t need life to be complicated. It has come back to bite me since. [Read more...]
Ashley
Mom to Gentry Ann, born and died February 25, 2012
and
Savannah Elizabeth, born and died February 26, 2012
Memphis, Tennessee
I found out I was pregnant on November 9, 2011, after our first attempt at IVF. We found out we were expecting twins on November 28. After almost two years of trying to get pregnant, we were so excited to be expecting two babies. At the first ultrasound it was found that I had a subchorionic hematoma (SCH) next to Baby A, but it was small enough to not be much of a concern. The day after I was released from my fertility doctor, I was in the ER for heavy bleeding. But, an ultrasound showed both babies were doing great. The bleeding was from my SCH. We ended up at the ER again a month later for more bleeding, but again both babies were fine. At that time I was ordered to bed rest for three weeks. After about 3.5 weeks the bleeding quit, for the first time my entire pregnancy (at almost 17 weeks pregnant). [Read more...]
Nicole
Mom to Tristan
Died May 9, 2009
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
On the evening of Mother’s Day 2009, I lost my baby. I was 6 weeks pregnant, and had been trying to have a baby for almost two years. [Read more...]
Amy
Mom to Aliya Amy and Bennett Paul
Lost August 5, 2011
Tenino, Washington
Paul and I were introduced in April 2005 by my friend Amanda, who was engaged to Paul’s younger brother (she’s my sister-in-law now). Even though I was dating someone else at the time, she declared me Paul’s perfect match and would not let it go! She was right, of course…although very different, we were perfect for each other. Our paths crossed again in July 2005, and since I had broken up with the other guy, Paul found the nerve to ask me out. We had our first date a couple of weeks later and have been together ever since. We got engaged Thanksgiving weekend 2005 and married in September 2006. We started trying for our first child in October 2007, one month after our first wedding anniversary. I’d been on and off birth control for years to prevent pregnancy…little did I know how difficult it would actually be for us to get pregnant. [Read more...]
Kaitlin
Mom to Jordan
Lost September 9, 2011,
Ectopic pregnancy, September 2009
and
Missed miscarriage, March 2009
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
My name is Kaitlin and I am 29 years old. I am married to Scott and have a daughter Emma.
I am sharing our journey with you as demonstration of our commitment to this process. Please take the time to understand where we have been and how we got to this place. [Read more...]
Kelly
Mom to Angel Baby
Lost January 11, 2010
Franklin, NC
My husband and I were married for just over two years when we decided it was time to start a family. I had just finished graduate school and had been ready for a baby for a while by that point. We were pleasantly surprised when we got pregnant on our first try in November of 2009. At first everything seemed okay, but I really wasn’t having any pregnancy symptoms, other than the need to pee all the time. At my first prenatal appointment the midwife confirmed that I was indeed pregnant, but it was a “weak positive” on the test. I was only about 4.5 to 5 weeks along at the time and was set up for an ultrasound about a week later. [Read more...]
Jenny
3 missed miscarriages:
March 2011 at 9 weeks
October 2011 at 12 weeks
February 2012 at 8 weeks
Iowa City, Iowa
My Story:
In May 2010 my husband and I decided to ditch my birth control bills and start trying to conceive. After three months went by with no period, I wasn’t the least bit surprised because I had long cycles as a teenager and always knew something was wrong with me and that someday I’d likely have trouble conceiving. My ob/gyn ran some blood tests, and in October 2010 I was diagnosed with PCOS. [Read more...]
Karen
Mom to Tobin Robert & Miles Edward
Delivered at 16 weeks on November 16, 2011
Colorado Springs, Colorado
After a 2 ½ year struggle with infertility, we were blessed with our first pregnancy. We found out on August 22, 2011 that the IUI we did was a success! We went for our first ultrasound on September 8, 2011, our 4th wedding anniversary. My fertility specialist was surprised that it was identical twins! We were thrilled! [Read more...]
|
