November 18, 2012 By 1 Comment

Alesha

Mom to Baby Staley- Morgan

Born still August 23, 2012

Buckhorn, Kentucky

I was 19 weeks pregnant and had found out I was carrying an unhealthy baby and the baby would more than likely lose its fetal heartbeat within the next few weeks or month. I had gone in for a routine ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby, but instead found out that the baby had a massive cyst and was gathering fluid around its heart. I was in complete shock, which was supposed to be a day of joy not sadness. I was lying on the bed during the ultrasound while my doctor was telling me all the horrible news. In complete shock, I instantly started praying and asking God to remove the cyst and make my baby healthy. My OB doctor said the baby more than likely had Turners Syndrome, a disease more common in girls. We had trouble finding out the sex because we couldn’t see much of the baby because of all the cysts. I was very thankful I had a few family members there with me during this time. They were all very excited as well as me about getting to find out the sex of the baby. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, 21 weeks, Kentucky, Stillbirth, Turner's Syndrome
November 10, 2012 By 3 Comments

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...]

Filed Under: 2012, Cord accident, Infertility, Stillbirth
November 4, 2012 By 1 Comment

Jennifer

Mom to Agustin
Born and died September 30, 2012

and

Aristeo
Born sleeping September 30, 2012

Bradenton, Florida

 

Knowing I was pregnant was the scariest and happiest day of my life. It was even scarier telling my mother; she already knew, but was scared to ask me. One day she handed me a pregnancy test and told me to take it. I was so scared, but after taking the test, which you could hardly read what the results were, I told her I was already 3 months.  She was happy because she was not yet a grandmother.. I was frightened I’d be a mother at 18. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, 21 weeks, Florida, placental abruption, premature birth, Stillbirth, Twin Loss
October 27, 2012 By 8 Comments

Rosanna

Mom to Alexander

Born and died May 13, 2012

Fresno, California

Due date, May 11, 2012:

On Friday, May 11th, our first child Alexander still wasn’t ready to come out. I went to my doctor’s appointment on his due date. He was perfect. I was perfect. He just wasn’t ready to meet the world yet.  My doctor scheduled another appointment on Monday to do a stress test because she doesn’t like babies to go very long over their due date. It never crossed my mind that anything bad would happen. It didn’t cross her mind to even mention it to me, either. Death was never discussed. Death wasn’t discussed in any of the three books I read during my pregnancy, either. Not one thing was wrong with me or with Alex during the pregnancy. Late Friday night, I started to have contractions. They weren’t as strong as I expected them to be. I envisioned myself screaming, but they weren’t that intense. However, they were coming closer and closer together. This lasted all night. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, 40 weeks, California, Fullterm, meconium aspiration, Stillbirth
October 27, 2012 By 4 Comments

Kate

Delaney Marie

Born still March 22, 2012 at 39 weeks

Maitland, Florida

I am the face of a baby so loved and wanted, that was suddenly robbed from me for absolutely no reason, full term.

It didn’t take long for me to get pregnant. We were so excited and so was our entire family. I had an easy pregnancy, and in fact I wondered why people complained about the side effects of pregnancy. I thought, “Hey, this is easy!” I did everything right. We planned out excitedly how to tell all of our parents and family members. We had a gender reveal gathering at our house with family the day we found out we were having a sweet little baby girl. I was given 3 baby showers. This baby was fully prepared for, loved, and had everything I and she could possibly want. My husband and I decorated her nursery so beautifully, picked out new furniture together and were so excited for her arrival. I had all her clothes and sheets washed, stroller built, swing set up, and the night I began realizing I hadn’t been feeling any movement all day, my husband was setting up her bed that would be in our room for her first few months of life. I will never forget what we were doing the night before we got the worst news we could ever receive… [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, 39 weeks, Florida, Fullterm, Stillbirth
October 21, 2012 By 4 Comments

Jennyfer

Landyn

Born still May 24, 2011

Kokomo,Indiana

My husband and I had only been married for about 6 months, but I just knew I was pregnant. We wanted a baby; we wanted to give my first child (from a previous marriage) a sibling. I took the test, and positive! We were both really excited.

From the beginning there was trouble. After my first appointment I started spotting, so my OB put me on progesterone. I thought everything would be ok after that and was really looking forward to all of my future doctor appointments. We were filed with so much hope. One night I had a dream, well nightmare. I had given birth to my baby, but the nurse had very quickly taken him away and started running down the hall. I screamed, “She’s stealing my baby!” I tried to jump out of the hospital bed but another nurse held me down. She looked at me and said, “She’s not stealing your baby. Your baby is dead.” I woke up in a panic and told my husband about my nightmare. He told me it was just a dream and I was overreacting. I called my mom and a few other people. I needed to hear as many people as I could say everything was going to be ok. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2011, Cord accident, Indiana, Mother's Intuition, No heartbeat, Stillbirth
October 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Gillian

Mom to Jacob, a twin

Died July 6, 2008 and born September 10, 2008

Tucson, Arizona

My journey started in February 2008. It never occurred to me that I would have anything other than an ideal, fairy tale pregnancy. I would have a healthy baby and it would all be so easy and magical…Wrong! I found out at 13 weeks that I was having twins. This possibility never entered my mind. I was terrified, and my husband was terrified. But we knew it would be ok. We started planning, we picked names: Baby A would be Jacob and Baby B would be Kaleb. I dreamed about their room, I ordered their bedding sets and I bought letters to paint and hang above their cribs. I was secretly afraid I would mix them up so I wanted their names above their cribs. I painted them myself and had so much fun. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2008, 27 weeks, Arizona, Stillbirth, Surviving twin, Twin Loss
October 21, 2012 By 2 Comments

Courtney

Mom to Layla Angelina, stillborn April 11, 2007

and

Twin boys, lost April 22, 2005

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Growing up was very hard for me. At the age of 13, my mother gave birth to triplets. My sister was stillborn and my brother died within 24 hours of birth due to his lungs collapsing. My mother was addicted to drugs and gave me up for adoption. Luckily, I was adopted at 6 weeks old into a middle class family and I was the only child. Two days before my 12th birthday, my innocence was taken from me and 9 months later I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who was named Brian Anthony. I wanted him to have a better life, so I gave him up for adoption. After that my life took a wrong turn. I started doing drugs and drinking, and I wasn’t on the right path to succeed. At 16 years old I got pregnant with a little girl and my boyfriend and I named her Layla Angelina. The moment I found out I was pregnant (at about 6 weeks) I got clean and sober and I haven’t touched drugs since (this November will be 6 years clean for me). [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2005, 2007, Florida, miscarriage, Second trimester loss, Stillbirth, Twin Loss, Twins
October 21, 2012 By 6 Comments

Jodie

Mom to Mae Elizabeth

Born still May 18, 2012

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

My husband and I lost our first born baby girl when she was born still on May 18th, 2012.  She was born full-term (40 weeks, 1 day) after 9 months of a healthy pregnancy.  She was wiggling and moving on May 16th and at our 40 week check-up, she was gone. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, 40 weeks, Fullterm, Pennsylvania, Stillbirth
October 18, 2012 By 4 Comments

Sarah

Mom to Silas Theodore
Lost September 2, 2011 at 18 ½ weeks gestation,

and twins Asher Saul
Lost May 10, 2012 at 19 weeks gestation

and

Sadie Irene
Lost May 14, 2012 at 20 weeks gestation

Michigan City, Indiana

I was absolutely ecstatic and shocked beyond belief when I found out I was pregnant with Silas. I think it took me 6 pregnancy tests over the course of a weekend to really believe I was finally being blessed with a child at 32 years of age. I had tried to conceive naturally for almost two years and I think I had just given up hope that it was ever going to happen. Needless to say, I was very involved with my prenatal visits and constantly read up on everything I could be expecting and what I should do to ensure a healthy pregnancy.  I don’t think I ever prayed so much in my whole life! But as I got bigger, my pregnancy started to cause me concern. I had a lot of unexplained shooting pains when I would stand up or sneeze, and I sneeze a lot when I’m pregnant! The doctors always reassured me everything was normal and I got extra ultrasounds and examinations to ensure this. By the time Silas was born at 18 1/2 weeks, I think I already had 4 pictures of him proudly displayed around the house and near my bed! [Read more...]

Filed Under: 18 weeks, 19 weeks, 20 weeks, 2011, 2012, Incompetent Cervix, Indiana, pPROM, Preterm labor, Second trimester loss, Stillbirth, Twins
October 17, 2012 By 1 Comment

Nichole

Mom to Gregory Harrison

Born still on October 8, 2006

Tamaqua, Pennsylvania

Getting pregnant and becoming a parent is supposed to be easy. That was what I had assumed when my husband and I decided it was time to start a family of our own. We had been together since 1995, married since 2001, had purchased our first home. The logical progression said that we should start a family. More importantly, our hearts told us it was time. As time passed, we felt that something was missing from our lives, and being parents was that missing facet. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2006, 23 weeks, Pennsylvania, placental abruption, Stillbirth
October 7, 2012 By 13 Comments

Heather

Mom to Makenna Allene

Born still September 1, 2012 at 39 weeks

Alexandria, Virginia

I am the face of…a yearned for baby that was taken from me, full term.

Geoff and I had thoroughly discussed and planned for having a child; we thought this was the penultimate display of our love and commitment to each other. So, when I went for a fertility consultation at 38 years old and was told, basically, that I “should not” be thinking about having a child and that I potentially could not at “this age”, imagine our shock and surprise when I became pregnant a month later. We considered our baby girl, Makenna, a miracle baby from the beginning. We celebrated announcing our pregnancy with a party, and when we found out at 18 weeks that we were having a healthy baby girl we celebrated with another “gender reveal” party. Our friends threw us a huge co-ed baby shower. Every chance we could, we joyfully jumped headlong into planning for and celebrating her arrival. All through the pregnancy I avoided caffeine and alcohol, ate right, drank water, exercised, slept on my side – you name it, I did it. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, 39 weeks, First child, Fullterm, Stillbirth, Virginia
September 30, 2012 By 10 Comments

Jenna

Mom to Gia Elizabeth

Born still August 28, 2012

Cape Coral, Florida

I was 21. I was a single girl just living life. I wasn’t trying to conceive, in fact, I was trying to avoid getting pregnant. I found out I might be pregnant on January 7, 2012 when I realized my period was late. On January 8th I went to Gia’s dad’s house and we got a pregnancy test. Before I even peed on it, I knew I was pregnant. I knew something wasn’t right in my body. I could tell things were different. I remember in the week before and until I took the pregnancy test I had this queasy, uneasy feeling in my stomach. As soon as I saw the + on the pregnancy test, the feeling in my stomach went away. I had figured it out, I was pregnant. I immediately had to leave Jeff’s house and go see my mom. I got home and ran into her room. I was scared to tell her. “Mom, I think I might be pregnant.” “Jenna, are you serious? When was your last period? We have to go get a pregnancy test.” I told her I had already taken one and it was positive. We left to go to the beach and on our way we picked up 4 tests. We walked down the beach with the dogs and talked, it was then and there that I knew I was going to keep the baby. It was the beginning of the rest of my life. I was going to be a mom! [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, Florida, Fullterm, Stillbirth
September 29, 2012 By 3 Comments

Kate

Mom to triplets

Evie, born and died December 14, 2009,

Jack, stillborn December 22, 2009,

and

Will, born January 1, 2010 and died January 14, 2010

Currently Tampa, Florida (military family)

Time to Tell Their Story (written February 3, 2012)

I have never written about the details of losing Evie, Jack, & Will. It’s been over two years now since we lost the pregnancy and tonight is the first night that I’ve actually felt like I could write about how they were born.  I don’t know how this is going to go, but I feel ready to give it a try.  I am going to ask for patience, please, as I search for the words to tell this story.

It started the night of December 2nd, 2009.  It was a Wednesday. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2009, 2010, 22 weeks, 23 weeks, 24 weeks, Florida, Infant loss, NICU, premature birth, Preterm labor, Second trimester loss, Stillbirth, triplets, twin to twin transfusion syndrome
September 22, 2012 By 5 Comments

Kelly

Mom to Mirayah Michelle

Stillborn July 5, 2012 at 38 weeks

Shawnee, Oklahoma

My husband, Matt, and I discovered we were pregnant on November 7th, 2011. We have one son that I had from a previous relationship, and Matt adopted him. This would be our first child together. We were over the moon and filled with joy and excitement. My sister was also pregnant and was given the due date of June 30th while mine was July 17th. My sister and I were so excited to share the experience of pregnancy and raising our babies together. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, 38 weeks, Fullterm, No heartbeat, Oklahoma, Stillbirth
September 22, 2012 By 2 Comments

Laura

Mom to Caitlyn Joann

Born still August 8, 2012

Dalton, Georgia

Caitlyn Joann Leach was born of August 8th 2012 at 8:14 pm. She weighed 4lbs 5ozs and was 17 inches long. She had a full head of red hair. I got to wash and dress her. I held her for almost 24 hours. I didn’t want to let her go. I thought if I did, then it was really true that I had lost my daughter, and that made me so angry. I remember cursing God and everyone that came near me.

I am tired of people telling me that I am young and that I can always try again…that maybe true that I can always have another baby, but it won’t be the one that I lost.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, 35 weeks, Georgia, Stillbirth
September 16, 2012 By 4 Comments

Megan

Mom to Byron Matthew
Born and died at 20 weeks on October 10, 2008,

Early miscarriage, June 5, 2009,

and

Isabella Madison
Stillborn at 16 weeks on December 6, 2009.

Jacksonville, North Carolina

Whenever I thought about having children, I never imagined anything bad, scary, traumatic. You see so many women have normal, healthy pregnancies where nothing ever goes wrong and it just never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be one of those “normal” women. Never in one million years would I have imagined that I would be where I am today.

I remember finding out I was pregnant for the first time like it was yesterday. I was 20 years old and had been married to my husband for almost one year. My hand was shaking so hard I could barely show him the test results. I was nervous, excited, scared…so many different emotions all at the same time. I had my first ultrasound when I was 9 weeks pregnant. I cried as soon as I saw my little baby and heard his heart beat. It was such an amazing thing to me to see this life that I had created. That moment was something I could never really find the words to explain. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 16 weeks, 20 weeks, 2008, 2009, Early Miscarriage, Neonatal death, North Carolina, premature birth, Preterm labor, Second trimester loss, Stillbirth
September 16, 2012 By 2 Comments

Shannon

Mom to Alfonso (Alfy) Anthony

Born into Heaven April 6, 2012

Omaha, Nebraska

From Shannon’s blog post, Alfonso (Alfy):

It took me almost a full month to type Alfy’s story. 

Thursday, April 5, 2012, I had an appointment with my OB.  I was 28 weeks pregnant.  I remember going to work that day and being so excited for my afternoon appointment, for two reasons.  1) I couldn’t wait to hear Alfy’s (note that at this time we still referred to him as “the baby” because we did not know the sex) heartbeat again and to see how we were progressing.  2) We were doing staff interviews for our summer employees and the appointment meant we had to end interviews early that day.  I love my job and even doing the interviews, but interviewing approximately 70 college students in the matter of 5 days can be a bit overwhelming and tiresome at times, especially when you are 28 weeks pregnant.  I even missed an interview that afternoon due to a post office/lunch run with one of my hallway friends.  Either way, I was excited for my appointment, to learn a little bit more about my kiddo. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012, 28 weeks, Nebraska, No heartbeat, Stillbirth
September 16, 2012 By 4 Comments

Felecia

Mom to Kennedy Aleecia
April 5, 2012 – April 6, 2012

and

Blighted ovum, February 2011

Indianapolis, Indiana

The pregnancy wasn’t planned at the time (it was a future plan my boyfriend and I had), but finding out in December 2011 that it was happening was the greatest thing ever! We found out in March 2012 we were having a little girl (it was a Wednesday, to be exact), and we already agreed to name her Kennedy Aleecia.

Well, that Friday I continued on with my day like normal, but my body felt funny; there was so much pressure down there, but I overlooked it and just thought, “OK, I’m going to go home lay down go to sleep.” I woke up when my boyfriend got off work around 5am…and I was bleeding. We go to the ER. They tell  I’m getting admitted to maturity. We get upstairs, they look and check and tell me my cervix is open and they’re going to do a surgery and tie (vaginal cerclage). Baby is fine (heart rate and everything)…so they do they surgery. I stay there a few more days, and then I’m home. The next day I need to go back, they said I’m fine and sent me home. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 20 weeks, 2011, 2012, blighted ovum, Cerclage, cervical incompetence, Incompetent Cervix, Indiana, Stillbirth
September 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

Jimmy and Sherri

Dad and Mom to Andrew and James

Born June 10, 2011, and passed the same day

Tucson, Arizona

We delivered our sons just over 22 weeks gestation. Andy’s heart stopped just prior to delivery. Fifteen minutes later, Jimmy was delivered and died several minutes after in our arms desperately trying to breathe on his own. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2011, 22 weeks, Arizona, Neonatal death, premature birth, Stillbirth, Twins
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