Stories

Nia Roselynn died on impact in a car accident at 39 weeks and 5 days old. My sister in law misjudged a yield traffic light causing our vehicle to be hit passenger side where me and my innocent Nia sat. We were on our way to pick up my firstborn after my OBGYN appointment. Nia frantically kicked and flailed in my stomach in her last moments. Scared and in pain in her last moments and there was nothing I can do. I’m lucky to be alive to share about her short life. Everyday is hard to live without her.

Maverick Addikus Goins 12/25/2016-10/07/2017
Mav was always happy and smiling, he had 4 brothers who loved him dearly. Mav passed from an avm. He now has 6 brothers and a sister who miss him every single day. We love you so much Mavey!! ❤️

Ezekiel Daniel Brenton❄️💙
Birthday 1/10/2025❄️💙
I thought I was 36 weeks pregnant but found out that my baby boy Ezekiel Daniel who was my first baby had stopped growing at 28 weeks due to undiagnosed serve preeclamsia and I almost lost my life as well.

For almost 4 years my husband and I struggled to get pregnant. We had went through testing, procedures, medications, you name it we did it. I was diagnosed with PCOS in December of 2023, it was bittersweet having an answer but knowing the difficulties we’d face in our journey hurt. In July 2024, after nearly 4 years of negative tests, one early Sunday morning we got the brightest, fastest positive pregnancy test. We shared tears, laughter and disbelief staring at that test. A month after we got that positive we were shocked all over again when we were told it was triplets! Giving that news to our family and friends felt like telling them we were pregnant all over again. Everyone was so excited.
We found out in early October that we were having 2 identical girls and 1 fraternal boy. We knew right off the bat one of our girls’ names would be Grace Yvonne. My mother-in-law, Yvonne, always wanted a granddaughter named Gracie. In 2021, when she lost her battle with cancer, my husband and I said our first daughter’s name would be Grace Yvonne for his mom. We soon settled on Skylar Jo (my husbands name is Joe) for her sister and Eli Douglas (my dad’s name is Douglas) for her brother.
With being high risk we had a lot of appointments and a lot of ultrasounds. Our team closely monitored the girls for Twin-to-Twin Transfusion and their growth because they shared a placenta. On November, 18, 2024 we went in for a routine scan and our world was turned upside down.
Our sonographer, sweetest lady ever, made a comment about needing the MFM to “confirm the numbers on the cord flow” and slipped out of the room. When she came back, she didn’t have our MFM but she had our OB (also the greatest Dr we could’ve asked for during this process). I’ll never forget what he said “Trish wanted me to come talk to you guys, I’m so sorry, Baby C, her heart stopped, there’s no heartbeat.” He stayed there, in that room with us, he cried with us, he grieved the loss of our baby with us. He explained that there wasn’t anything that could be done, not without compromising the other 2. We were only 23 weeks so the other 2 weren’t even viable yet. He explained how he’s never seen a multiple loss so late in the pregnancy and what our next steps would be.
By this point, we’d already begun calling “Baby C” Grace. We knew when he said Baby C that we had lost our beautiful baby.
Over the course of the next 2 months we monitored Skylar even closer. At 25 weeks we were admitted for issues with her cord flow, given steroids and informed on the dangers of potentially delivering early. At 27 weeks we were admitted again for heavy bleeding, thankfully everyone was ok, they still aren’t sure what caused the bleeding. Then at 30 weeks we were admitted indefinitely, given more steroids and educated on delivery at 32 weeks. Skylar had stopped growing. Keeping her in any longer could result in losing her as well but they wanted to give her a fighting chance by giving her a couple more weeks.
At 32 weeks and 2 days we were scheduled for a c section. At 1:30pm, 1:32pm and 1:34pm our triplets came into the world. I remember my dr telling me that because they were so small it was unlikely we’d hear them cry. Our warriors greeted the world with the loudest, tiniest screams and I cried. Today, November 2025, after a 70 day nicu stay (which a whole other story all its own) we have 2 healthy 9.5 month olds. Eli Douglas and Skylar Grace, who carries the name of her angel sister.

May 20 2024 I went into pre term labor and had my beautiful baby boy sleeping. I was 21 weeks and 4 days. When I was brought to the hospital and transferred to the bed my water broke. They monitored his heart for the first little while. At 12am they told me they may need to transfer me due to how early it was. When the doctor came back in at 1 am and told me Boston didn’t have room they checked his heart rate again and that’s when they broke my heart by telling me he had no heartbeat. I’ve never experienced such a heartbreak like this. Now my beautiful boy is not only tattooed on me I wear his ashes and last night I received my teddy for him 🫶❤️ I’m thankful that my baby boy is not suffering and is my guardian angel 👼 💙

On April 12, 2015 I lost my last angel to a miscarriage. I was so expecting this little angel to be the last of my dreams. I had a name and everything was ready for her. Little did I know that would be the worst day of my life. I had never experienced anything like this in my entire life. It has been a struggle over the years wondering what she would have been like and never getting to see her grow up.

March 30th of 2022 I was hanging out with my best friend when we did "pregnancy roulette." Both of us so utterly confident neither would be positive, until one of them happened to be positive. We both retook a test and mine came back so heavily positive almost instantly. A trip to the nearest hospital confirmed through urine and blood test that I was in fact about 7 weeks pregnant. I had just met my now husband about a month and a half prior, the relationship wasn't even official and I was terrified. I couldn't get an appointment to my OB earlier than May, which made it nerve wracking. April 10-12 I was in the hospital with a migraine, high blood pressure, and I couldn't keep anything down. They confirmed I was 9 weeks pregnant, but the gestation had stopped at roughly 5ish weeks due to no fetal heart beat. I was devastated, my husband was devastated. We tried again, and again, and again, over two years with nothing to show for it until we got our rainbow in July of '24.
To any mama that reads this, your loss, no matter how soon, is a loss. Stay strong!❤️

September 24th I went in for decreased fetal movement they admitted me for monitoring as she failed all her tests on ultrasound come the 25th at 6 in the morning her heart rate dropped insanely fast so they rushed me for an emergency c section it was my very first surgery I’ve ever had and I was insanely scared I wasn’t able to have my husband there as I was put under general anesthesia she was born weighing 1lb 12.2oz I had a fetal maternal hemorrhage she had lost all her blood and because of that they had to give her a blood transfusion well that blood transfusion caused her lactic acid to go through the roof and it wasn’t going down the hemorrhage also caused major brain damage and organ failure the doctors said we gave her the greatest gift of not being able to feel anything as at her gestation touch is super painful she could not move or eat because the doctors said my milk would eat through her stomach she was so loved for the short time she was here . My sweet Esmae June 9-25-25👼

October 6, 2023 I gave birth to healthy perfect 7lb 1oz baby boy. It was one of the happiest days of mine and my husbands lives. Once we got home from the hospital we quickly realized that he absolutely loved to be swaddled and was the only way he would sleep. He was always such a happy smiley baby and our other 2 kids absolutely adored him and loved to help with him and hold him. His first Halloween he was in a green fluffy bag as the Grinch🥹he had his first Halloween and first Thanksgiving. His first doctor appointment went amazing. He was growing healthy and perfect. December 4, 2023 he had his first pictures with Santa and he was looking everywhere so curious of his surroundings. That night he had woken up and I couldn’t get him back to sleep and I played with him and smiled at him and kissed him all over making him smile. He wasn’t old to giggle yet. Then comes the worst day of my life, December 5, 2023. He had went back to sleep fine that night and that was the last time I ever seen his beautiful eyes and smile. I never in my life could’ve imagined the heartbreak that would ensure in me less than 12 hours later. As we lived with my mother in law at the time, she had came and gotten him from our room that morning and spent some time with him. When he had fell back asleep she put him back in our room. About 11 am that morning I woke and he wasn’t breathing. He had fallen asleep forever💔we found out about 7 months later that he had passed from SIDS.

On April 28th, 2020 we welcomed the little boy I always prayed for. His name was Myles Jayden and he was everything me and his father could have ever imagined. The day we found out we were pregnant with him we were so shocked because my husband was constantly told he couldn’t have children. So it made the pregnancy all the more special. Myles was my second child but a lot of times he was my best friend. His sister traveled back and forth every month to see her father and my husband was active duty at the time. So a lot of times it was just Myles and me and for the first time in life that felt ok because I had him, I didn’t have to constantly feel alone. Myles was such a happy baby and when I say that I truly mean that he smiled more than he ever did cry. He loved to explore so once he learned to crawl it was game over. I think our preacher explained it best at his celebration of life. I carried Myles for 9 months in pregnancy and my husband carried him 9 months in life. Sadly that’s all the time we got with our little boy. He passed a week shy of 10 months old, we never really got a reason. But did get the reality of anything can happen in a instant. My husband laid Myles down for a nap and walked away and within 3 minutes he was gone. The day he died we were supposed to take him to the park to swing on the swings for his first time. Because he loved his baby swing so much. But even though it’s still very painful all I can remind myself is he’s somewhere better swinging away watching over us.

Today is my daughter's 11th anniversary birthday...she was diagnosed with a rare brain disease called Ablor Holoprosencephaly, i had the option to terminate but I wanted to give her a chance. unfortunately she passed at 7 days old she was with me at home on hospice care. After she passed I lost it and went into a really bad depression to the point I almost committed suicide because I felt like i had no one...Got pregnant with my son in 2016 because I was still in self destructive mode but he was a blessing in disguise...Now I just had another baby girl on 9/12/2025 and I believe its her way of saying it will be okay

In April of 2020 me and my now Husband were in a tight spot with our living situation and financial situation due to COVID. Around the 3rd week of April I told my Husband that I didn’t feel like myself and that I felt off and wanted to take a pregnancy test. We got one and the line was there. It wasn’t super dark but it was there. I set up an appointment with an OBGYN but I couldn’t get an appointment until like a week after the first positive test. I took a couple tests before I started actively bleeding and losing the baby. The tests that I did take after the first positive kept on getting more faint and i didn’t know what that meant cause I’ve never been pregnant before. We got to the OBGYN and I explained everything to her and I sat in that office and got the news that the pregnancy test they took was negative, I had an early miscarriage and I most likely had PCOS. She told me to do a follow up appointment but I was too upset. Hearing those words made my heart sink. I’ll never forget the room I sat in, what I wore, the look on my husbands face and everything. I didn’t shed a tear till I got in my truck and I was sobbing so much and so loudly that I just couldn’t get out any words to my husband and I just couldn’t see anything from so many tears in my eyes. We got home and I just couldn’t stop sobbing. I had a huge breakdown then fell into a deep depression for a year. After that we tried again with supplements and it didn’t work, I tried working out and eating better and it didn’t work, the only thing that has worked for me to regulate my menstrual is Clomid and it helped me lose 10lbs. We still didn’t conceive. We just found out that my husband has a fertility problem so we plan on trying again in 2026. Hopefully our GoFundMe works out. I didn’t feel comfortable enough to share my story until this year. I also didn’t feel comfortable enough to give our angel baby a name until this year. His/her name is Aspen Ellis Tuck. I will remember , love and represent my baby anytime I can! Thank you for listening to my story.

In May 2024, after 9 months of trying to get pregnant, I found out it was mine and my partners turn. We sadly lost our sweet baby at 7 weeks, who had not grown beyond 5. In August 2024 on the 23rd, I found out I was pregnant again. I was beyond nervous this pregnancy would end in the same fate. After spotting on September 10th, the ultrasound told a different story. Not 1 healthy baby, but 3! Two in 1 sac, 1 in the other. 3 days later I was rushed to the hospital after being attacked to find one of the identical babies were gone at no fault of the attack, just reabsorbed. My babies continued to grow healthy and strong! Always measuring on time, and very active despite two anterior placentas. Especially my son Ryder Scott, who was Baby A. We found out they were boys in October. Immediately their names were picked. Ryder Scott and Hayden Lee. Everything went by in a breeze and healthy. At the end of February I got rushed from my job to the hospital with preeclampsia. At the time they thought it wasn’t so severe so I was sent home with bedrest, and medication for my blood pressure twice a day. I had a beautiful baby shower March 1st, I turned 22 March 13th. On March 27th it was noticed my Twin A was growth restricted. I had another ultrasound done March 31st at a different hospital and the tech agreed with the findings, but noted Baby Bs head was smaller than Baby As. April 1st at my routine OB appointment. The ultrasound tech (who I had my entire pregnancy with the office) was not happy with the findings, and investigated herself, only to find that Baby B was much much smaller, as he was weight estimate 3lb 3oz at 35 weeks of pregnancy, when he was estimated to be 3lb 1oz at 30 weeks. I was immediately sent to L&D to deliver but they decided to send me home. I started feeling my babies less, so I went back the next day and was once again dismissed and sent home. Told to come back April 7th for my last maternal fetal medicine appointment before my c section scheduled April 16th. When I came back on the 7th, immediately I knew something was wrong when she started the ultrasound. She had been a chatty Cathy Till she started scanning my belly. Prior to the ultrasound she told me she couldn’t do a growth scan cause I had one done on the 1st and they had to be 7 days apart. Then once she started my ultrasound she said she would do one on Baby A, red flag number 1. She has me flip side to side, switched probes. Then ultimately left to get the doctor and blamed it on bad angles and not being good with twins. The doctor comes in and does the scan where unfortunately he tells me. Baby B is gone. My sweet Hayden Lee passed away most likely the night before that appointment. I went to L&D where I delivered my boys at 6:34 (Ryder) and 6:35PM (Hayden) after autopsy we found Hayden had a brain injury, an that’s what he passed from, he had a cord insert that was incorrect, which exposed his blood vessels where it connected to the placenta, leaving them exposed with no Wharton's jelly. For 2-3 weeks he suffered like this and no one had any idea. I’m beyond blessed to have his twin brother alive with me and I’ll forever wonder what life would’ve been with both of them. Rest easy my sweet baby. Until we meet again my little love.

My son Rowan Eros Sage Pritchard was born June 12th 2024. He was born not breathing and a slight heart rate. I woke up from being put to sleep finding out that my son passed away, he had cardiopulmonary failure and HIE. There was no way of him coming back from. My baby boy had no oxygen in his blood steam. We love and miss him every day.

This was the last time I saw my sweet girl . This day she was great she heart rate was 170 several weeks after this ultrasound I went for my 16 week check up right after Christmas. January 15th my midwife and I talked like we always did being my fourth pregnancy and my age she and I always had good talks so then she checked her heart ❤️ and then those horrible words came I can’t find it I’m sending you to ultrasound so we can get a big picture okay well I came back I’m so sorry she’s gone her lungs her kidneys her head had filled with fluid there’s noting we can do now you will wait a week because I’m 39 I needed a d&e I never got to hold her she is with me now in her beautiful earn 😭

I’ve always dreamed of being a wife and a mom. I got married at 34, and we started trying right away. After 10 long months, we finally found out we were pregnant last November. The beginning of my pregnancy was wonderful, I felt great, never got sick, and honestly, some days it didn’t even feel real.

At 25 weeks, we found out there was some fluid around our baby’s heart and lungs, and a few weeks later learned that our sweet boy had Down syndrome. It was a shock at first, but after time to process, we were so excited to raise a little boy who just so happened to have Down syndrome.

Everything continued to look good for a while, but at 32 weeks, he didn’t pass his tests, and they decided to admit me for monitoring. The next day, his heart rate dropped suddenly, and I was rushed in for an emergency C-section. Our precious Walker James was born on July 1, 2025, weighing 5 lb 6 oz.

He fought with everything he had, but his tiny lungs were too underdeveloped, and he went to be with Jesus 30 hours later, on July 2. We are completely heartbroken and miss our boy more than words could ever say.

In 2024 I found out we were pregnant. Which was a surprise cause we just had a little girl the following year. At this time we had 3 daughters. We found out in February we were pregnant and found out in October what we were having. I went in for a appointment and was told there was no heart beat. I found out on Halloween and was broke. I had to go in and give birth to this little one. At this point we still weren't aware of the gender. I gave birth November 5th to a baby boy. I was 21 weeks. He was measuring at 14 weeks. My little angel. My husband had two daughter before he and I had our 3. He wanted a son so bad. I finally was able to give him one. So after 5 girls he finally got his little man. We ended pregnant the beginning of this year and had another little girl. Our rainbow baby. Our little man is definitely watching over all of our girls.

At the age of 37 I had been debating on having a hysterectomy August 21st 2024 I found out I was pregnant for the first time. I spent years trying I even took fertility medication and nothing. I have endometriosis and since I was 15 I have dealt with cysts. I was content with all my fur babies getting pregnant late in life wasn’t something I wanted to do and I had convinced myself I was okay with not having babies so once I was pregnant it was hard to get on board with at first. I went to the ER on September the 3rd 2024 to make sure I wasn’t having a epitopic pregnancy because I was scared to wait till my first appointment. The ultrasound picture is the ER visit there was a heartbeat 💓 and my numbers was growing everything was fine. That’s when I was coming around to having a baby finally! Then my first appointment September the 20th 2024 I found out there was no heartbeat. That destroyed me!! Here I was broken and trying to understand why this happened after all these years and dealing with the fact that I no longer will have my baby in my arms. Dr has no idea what happened we are left with the unknown and the heartbreak. Never got to know the gender. I had 4 names picked out for a boy same amount for a girl. My due date was April of 2025. Dr said I had a Missed Misscarriage because my body wasn’t recognizing the miscarriage. I carried till September the 25th 2024. I went into labor at home and went back a week later to make sure I passed everything on my own.

This is my sweet kahleesi i have her stillborn on September 15th 2025 at 36 weeks due to a blood clot in her umbilical cord, I feel as if I have let her down because her movements her last few days were very different from how they normally were but when I expressed this concern with many people around me they told me that she’s probably just squished in my belly where I was so far along and she was so big and instead of going to the OB over this I trusted what people said and she passed away days later and when I noticed she didn’t move all day one day I also expressed this concern to people and they just brushed it off because eve thing was going so good for us in our appointments so I did as well witch led me to convincing myself I had felt her move that day and for the next 2-3 days after till my water broke and I went into labor and when I got to the hospital and they tried putting those straps on me to monitor her heart rate is when we discovered she had passed this photo is edited because I cannot look at how she looked without sending myself in to a spiral of regret for not just going to the OB when her movements felt off she will always be loved nevertheless and I will always miss those tiny kicks

After five years of infertility, my husband and I were finally expecting our miracle baby. At 34+6 weeks pregnant, my friend and I were hit head-on by an impaired driver. My friend was DOA, and the crash caused a placental abruption. My sweet boy, Hudson Antonio Loura, was born sleeping at 8:40 PM on July 13th. He was 19 inches long and weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce. The doctor's told me that if I hadn't have been pregnant, then the crash would have killed me. Hudson was my literal guardian angel. ❤️👼🏼

Josiah Gabriel
Born April 23, 2025 • 1.4 oz
At 11 weeks, my doctor noticed something abnormal during an ultrasound and referred me to a specialist in another city. When I finally saw the specialist at 13 weeks, she confirmed that there was something serious. My baby had a rare condition called LUTO (lower urinary tract obstruction), and she explained that in most cases, babies with this condition don’t survive.
I remember leaving the office in tears and calling my mom, who told me to keep faith and trust that everything would be okay. I held on to hope with all my heart, but at my next appointment, my doctor couldn’t find a heartbeat. My sweet Josiah’s heart had stopped.
Even though his time with me was short, he touched my heart in a way that words can’t describe. I’ll carry him with me forever — my little boy, my angel, Josiah Gabriel.

Emrys Wolf was born May 18th 2024 weighing 2lbs 13oz. He had a rare condition called LUTO, due to such an early delivery (26 weeks 3 days) and his kidneys not functioning well. he sadly passed at 8 days old. During those eight days he showed us his beautiful cry, opened his eyes and looked at us as we spoke and would grip our fingers when we'd hold his hand. He was the strongest fighter I've ever met and was such a strong little mans. We'll miss him forever but know he's always close.

After 9 years of infertility I decided to get a hysterectomy as I was always in pain in my uterus. 2 weeks before the scheduled surgery I found out we were expecting our miracle baby. Scans were great, we heard the heartbeat and found out he was a boy. We decided to name him Landon. Fast forward to almost halfway thru pregnancy I started cramping and bleeding. I went to the hospital where they said I was probably dehydrated and that bleeding was normal. They did measure my cervix and said it was short. They sent in a prescription for progesterone but my insurance company fought it. 2 days later I was leaking fluid and I called my Dr who said that if I wasn't changing my pad every hour I was ok. That might my water broke and they said there was nothing they could do as his lungs were not fully developed. I went into labor and delivered him Sept 12 2024 at 4:55 am. I've never been so utterly broken.

i found out i was pregnant in the beginning of 2024. when i found out i was having a girl i was the happiest in the world. i was so excited to be a mom. scarlet was born october 2024. i was in prolonged labor, and they used too much pitocin. she needed extra help because she wasn’t breathing. i was so out of it i don’t remember how long it was. when she started crying i started crying. in a matter of hours things turned for the worst and she was being transferred to a children’s hospital for suspected seizures. they did an EEG & MRI. she was having almost constant seizures, & the MRI showed almost her entire brain was damaged. she was diagnosed with severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. she didn’t qualify for cooling therapy. she was intubated and being pumped with medication to try and stop the seizures. she would fall in and out of consciousness. when we talked with our team a couple weeks later they told us that they believe the brain damage is far too severe, and that she’ll most likely live the rest of her life connected to a machine. we made the decision to take her off and let her go peacefully. when we took her off she started to turn blue and then started breathing on her own. we were all shocked. everyone came to say goodbye. a few hours later our team came in and started talking about sending her home on hospice, because they said that it could happen in days or weeks. i made the decision to sign a DNR. she left the nicu 11.21.24. she very slowly started improving. we did g tube surgery january 2025 to improve her feeding because she wasn’t deteriorating. she started becoming more aware, she could smile, she started moving her arms. her hospice nurse came to me and said they were gonna take her off the transitioning to death list. until 2.11.25, she had a major seizure and passed away. my heart was broken and i still am. i’ll forever miss my honeybear 💛.

We started the IVF process in 2017, and had our first son, Benjamin in 2019. Benjamin is such an amazing kid and has been very vocal about his desire to be a big brother since he was barely over 2.
After a miscarriage in 2022, we returned to our IVF clinic to transfer our one remaining embryo. It failed to implant. We did a second egg retrieval and this yielded no viable embryos. So we did a third egg retrieval and got 2 viable embryos. The first resulted in another miscarriage (my 3rd loss) so we proceeded with a recurrent miscarriage work up. I was told everything was normal/negative. We transferred our remaining embryo and it failed to implant.
Every failed cycle was so crushing. I truly thought about giving up, but I felt in my heart, we were missing something. I requested 2nd and 3rd opinion consults and was told I should rule out endometriosis. Considering I had surgery when I was 20 to rule out endo, I was surprised to hear this. I found a specialist, and 4 months later had surgery again. I was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis.
We thought we finally figured out my infertility; it wasn't "unexplained," it was endo, very severe endo! We proceeded with a 4th egg retrieval and made our most perfect, highly graded embryo. We did a 5th transfer and this embryo became Noah. We found on the Monday before Mother’s Day that I was pregnant! There's no words to describe the joy we experienced during my pregnancy and we will cherish our moments forever.
Despite not feeling well myself, the pregnancy was perfect, every scan, every check up, revealed a normal pregnancy. I frequently said, “I don’t feel great, but I am SO grateful.” Everything was perfectly falling into place. I took my last final for my FNP program, Noah kicked the whole time! I went about my day, feeling him kick. I was almost 36 weeks and with that final out of the way, I was so ready for his arrival.
The next morning, I woke up in a panic at 4am feeling like something was wrong. I got up and did everything I could to try to feel him move and I couldn’t. We rushed to the hospital, 2 nurses and 2 doctors attempted to find his heartbeat and couldn’t. I knew at nearly 36 weeks, a heartbeat shouldn’t be this hard to find. Hearing those words, “I’m so sorry, we can’t find a heartbeat” was the most earth shattering, life changing statement I have ever heard. Noah was so wanted and in an instant, he was gone. Just like there being no words to describe our joy, there were no words to describe our heartache. On 12/12/24, we said hello and goodbye to our sweet boy.
Following Noah's death, I had an array of testing, revealing that the previous recurrent miscarriage work up I had was likely a false negative as it seems as though I have antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Unfortunately, because we didn't know this, we couldn't prevent Noah's death. Had we known, I would have been on a blood thinner and likely would be holding Noah right now 💔 I find it all really hard to accept and see my future in the field of medicine to be very uncertain. I can’t imagine practicing medicine right now after feeling like medicine failed me in the worst way possible.

Last January I found out I was pregnant and would later find out I was expecting my second little girl. My pregnancy was rough but we got through it and welcomed a healthy baby girl on September 17th.
I had left her laying in my bed to take a nap on November 16. I left the house around 5 o’clock and around 6:15. I get a phone call from my partner saying that she is not breathing. we call paramedics, but she was too far gone. She rolled over in her sleep and had suffocated. She was my third child. She will forever be one month and 30 days old.

Our firstborn daughter, Catherine Grace Yancey, was conceived via IVF after years of infertility. The first half of my pregnancy with her was normal until her 20 week ultrasound. It was determined that she had dilated kidneys and ectopic ureters along with a few other possible birth defects. This required high-risk monitoring and we were told that she would need a NICU stay until we could come up with a plan for her. We met with specialists in anticipation for arrival and we educated ourselves on the condition and what her life would look like.

On September 27, 2022, I was admitted to L&D for low amniotic fluid and possible pre-eclampsia. On October 1, 2022, I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia with severe features, since I had fluid on my lungs. Catherine was born via emergency c-section at 5:33pm at 32 weeks and rushed to the NICU while I was sent to the ICU on a ventilator. I didn't get to meet her until the next day.

She was diagnosed with VACTERL association, which confirmed our doctor's suspicions. She also had IUGR, so she was about 2 lbs 8 oz and 12 inches long at birth. Most babies with VACTERL get to live somewhat of a normal life, but Catherine's case was more severe than anticipated due to the issues with her kidneys. The NICU team attempted two urostomies so Catherine could urinate. However, her kidney disease was far too advanced and she was too small for dialysis treatment. We made the difficult decision to place her on comfort care. We were able to dress her up for Halloween and we took her outside so the sun could touch her face at least once. She passed away on October 20, 2022 in the early hours of the morning.

Tillian Wells Parkinson is my sweet baby boys name. He is our first born after years of unexplained infertility. We lost Tillian at 32 weeks due to my MFM failing to diagnose a giant chorioangioma ( a tumor on the placenta) It was found at my 20wk anatomy scan. They thought at the time it was only an accessory lobe and baby boy was in the 90th percentile! They did not inform me about it and the only way i found out was because a concerned ultrasound tech at a private ultrasound place told us. When we questioned my ob about it her nurse responded with “we didn’t tell you because we didn’t want to worry you” at 31 weeks my sweet boy dropped from the 90th percentile to the 5th. and 5 days later he no longer had a heartbeat. we were later told by our MFM “healthy babies don’t die in 5 days” which we all knew he wasn’t healthy because we wasn’t growing and then told “ if i had found it i wouldn’t have done anything for you anyways” We were failed by people that were supposed to take care of us. treatments are available for this tumor and our sweet boy could be in our arms. unfortunately our doctors did not do their job and we are left without our son.

My husband and I started trying for our first baby after ten years of being married. It took seven months and that positive test came when I least expected it. I kept it a secret all day until Cory got home, when I gave him a set of toy car keys to tell him. I’ll never forget the look on his face. We quickly told our family. Everyone was so excited!

I was miserably sick the whole time I was pregnant. I had awful morning sickness and then migraines. We never dreamed anything bad could ever happen though.

When I was seven months pregnant, I got COVID and felt like he was moving a lot less than usual, and my O2 was low. Cory took me to the hospital and I got checked out. Raylan started moving once they put the monitor on and my O2 was okay, so they sent me home. My blood pressure was on the low side, but I was sick and just wanted to go home.

Four days later, I knew something was wrong. I hadn’t felt Raylan move at all overnight, and my urine was really dark. I was thinking maybe a UTI or kidney infection. Cory took me back to the hospital. Nurse after nurse tried to find Raylan’s heartbeat, and when they called my doctor in, she looked at us and said, “I’m not finding a heartbeat”. Part of me died hearing those words. She started explaining that I had lost a lot of blood, and they weren’t comfortable with me delivering there and wanted to send me to a larger hospital. It had never occurred to me that if something happened to Raylan, I would still have to deliver him. It was awful to think of labor without the outcome of a baby to bring home.

I was taken by squad to the next hospital where the OB on staff said I could either have a c section, or deliver him naturally. She warned that I had already lost a lot of blood and would likely be in labor for hours just to end up in the OR anyway. We chose the c section. I just wanted it over with. I had to be given two transfusions to replace what I had lost. Later, one of the nurses told me I had lost about 30% of my blood. I don’t remember any of the surgery. With the blood loss, the doctor said it wasn’t safe for me to have an epidural. I had to go under general anesthesia, and since I was technically still contagious with COVID until midnight, Cory couldn’t go to the OR with me.

Raylan Mack Brenly was born at 28 weeks on 10/5/21 at 12:10am, 2lbs 13.5oz, and 15.5″ long. He was beautiful. He looked just like his daddy. I regret not spending more time with him and not taking more pictures, but at the time, we did all we could do.

I was blessed with amazing nurses. The first night after Raylan was born, my nurse came in and told me about her little boy who was born still a few years ago. It brought me comfort to know she understood what I was going through. I asked what her boy’s name was. It was Jackson. I’ll never forget that.

We got no answers on why we lost him. We were told this “just happens” sometimes and we’ll never know why.

I never thought I would have to be wheeled out without my baby. I never thought I would cuddle a bear and plaster handprints instead of Raylan. We should be complaining about being kept up all night, but our house is quiet.

I don’t want pity. I don’t want to pretend he never existed. I am going to talk about him and cry over him openly, because that’s what mamas do. We talk about our babies. Raylan will always be my little boy, and now he’s our guardian angel.

As much as it pains me to share my story I know I’m not alone we’re all a group nobody should ever be in I feel for all of you
Here is my story…..
In 2021 I got pregnant with the love of my life everything was great no problems at all. July 28th I had an appointment with my midwife and right after I had an ultrasound. While at the midwives they noticed my blood pressure slightly elevated they told me to go do my ultrasound and check in with labour and delivery. We did and were told everything was fine baby looked great. Jump to the next morning 10:00am I notice that he hadn’t been moving so we made what felt like the longest drive ever to the hospital as soon as we got there were put on the monitor. I was relieved when I heard his little heart beat They said he wasn’t happy but let’s just monitor you for a while so we can get another ultrasound but it will be a few hours At 5:00pm the doctor said we’re just going to induce you and was started on med asap. At 5:42 the nurse came in to up my meds while she was there she asked if I needed the restroom I said no but since your here I might as well go. I got back in bed about 2min later and the nurse hooked me back up to the monitor and couldn’t find him. So we laughed that he was being difficult and she called another nurse to try. She came in and tried to find him with no luck. At 5:47 the doctor came in with the portable ultrasound machine and that’s when I heard the most devastating news. I’m sorry his heart stopped my husband wasn’t there as he was with my oldest getting the car seat. I can still remember screaming and yelling ripping off my monitor and throwing it across the room the room was empty as the doctor and nurses left After a while the doctor came in and said we can send you home and let nature take its course or keep you and give you drugs to make you deliver. I chose the latter…I still didn’t believe he was gone and swore I felt him move holding on to the thought they were wrong .. on July 30 at 11:47 pm I gave birth to my first son. Eli David Charles born sleeping. He was so perfect. I spent the night with him and was discharged at 7:30am the next morning

Hi! This is the first story submission for our new page to share your stories! This photo is of our sweet baby, Theodore “Teddy” Russell Michalski, born sleeping 10.06.2018. Thank you for being here, and thank you for sharing your stories with us. Please feel free to check back as more stories are added - and utilize the search function to find families with stories like yours ❤️