Our Stories
Read the stories from our community and share you're own when you're ready.
Alex - A Warrior of Love
cassyrole 4
We found out we were pregnant with our 4th child on August 23rd 2020. This was a complete shock to us as I was on birth control. On Oct 1st my Dad passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. On Oct 22nd, 6 days after my Dad’s services, I went in for a sonogram and was so excited to see the baby. At this appointment, I was told my child had a lot of fluid behind their neck an indicator of an issue. A short time later we were told that there was a very high chance our son-they told us his sex through the bloodwork- had trisomy 18. We were told there was a very high chance our son would pass before making it to full term and we could terminate the pregnancy. My husband and I decided to continue the pregnancy and named our son Alex.
Ivy Lynn Collins
bryanacostello
Hello my name is Bryan Collins and I have a angle in heaven. Around 15 weeks I had liquid gushing out I called my ob and was told to wait until my appointment in the morning. When me and my husband got there they asked me if i was sure it was liquid and if it was just pee. Well they did a pelvic exam and then sent us home and would call with the results. Me and my husband got home and we were talking to his sister about a name well we decided on ivy Lynn Collins!!!! Well we were home for 10 min or less and was called back in to get more test done they did a ultrasound and confirmed that my fluid was low and there was a big change of a miscarriage and then sent us back home. Well me worried and broken wanted a second opinion and so we went to Akron general labor and delivery that night and when they did the ultrasound they informed us that I had no fluid left. Well I was scheduled for a anatomy ultrasound and then after talked to the doctor and she gave me a week before we loose out baby girl. Told me to schedule a appointment in the next three days with my OB well around 3 in the morning on my appointment on June 24th I gave birth by my precious daughter in my bathroom in the toilet not realizing that the cramping I was having was labor pains. I’m just blessed my husband and my twin sister was staying with us for a few nights without having them that early morning I don’t know what I would of done.
My first daughter Zoey Mae
ZoeyMaesmommy
On June 21,2012 I was 21 weeks pregnant with my angel Zoey. Her father was emotionally abusive and well this day he took it to physical abuse and had beat me so bad that it ended rupturing all her tiny organs despite my best effort to protect my belly and her. I nearly lost my life as well but fought back to save my own life as I also have 2 older boys that needed their mommy to. He didnt get any charges and got away with taking her life because of utahs laws at the time.
My broken heart
ylla
Hello, my story starts like most after growing up in the foster system without parents I had a hard time trusting I ended up getting married and when we expected our frist child I lost it do to abuse of doctors and him I’ve had 6 miscarriages and 2 stillborn and ended up with fertility issues I am now expecting a baby boy in January and he is doing super well I will have divorce finalized later this month and am with someone who actually loves me and I love him I have been bullied harassed and hurt by people because of all of this I’ve went through but I’m pushing forward and carring on for the sake of my soon to be newborn I will never forget my Angel’s they are forever in my heart !
Loss at 12 weeks
adroth
At 12 weeks, my husband, toddler and I went in for a routine midwife appointment. When the midwife couldn’t find the babies heart beat, we started to worry. When the tech, placed the wand on my stomach and I saw the baby, I knew. The little one hadn’t grown since my last appointment at 8 weeks. My body has missed the miscarriage and I opted to take misoprostol to start the miscarriage process. I had been sick, tired and growing despite the babies status. The bleeding got so bad that I was in the er for the night to monitor. After that night, we thought the baby had finally passed and we could start to heal. For the next 3 weeks I continued to have bleeding, problems and pain. I finally had a D&C right before Christmas. I continued to have odd uterine issues for months and am now finally cleared to start trying again. I miss that little one with my whole heart. Our family hopes for the future.
Not so happy anniversary
pleach95
My husband and I found out we were pregnant in May of 2019. We were so excited and had been trying for a few months. I was shocked with how fast we were able to get pregnant. We told our parents because we just couldn’t hold it in. I called my doctor to do all the testing. HCG was rising and looked great. Now to just wait for the first sonogram. While we waited, I started to just feel like something wasn’t right. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was; it was just SOMETHING. as the days passed I began to cramp and spot. I thought it was normal. Then one day I was taking a shower and I looked down and my leg was covered in blood, just dripping down my leg into the water. I yelled for my husband. And we just stood there not knowing what was happening. I called my doctor and they did more Blood work to find out my levels dropped drastically; we we’re having a miscarriage. This was on our first wedding anniversary to add to the pain. Every night I laid and cried in pain; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. I was so mad. Why did this happen to me?! I did everything right!! My husband was so good about staying strong for me but one night I heard him in the shower crying in pain. I just sat outside the door and bawled. I felt like I let him down. I couldn’t give him the one thing he wanted most in life; to be a daddy. I hated myself. As the months went in I slowly started to heal with many prayers and long talks with God. I had finally accepted that it wasn’t my fault, I didn’t do anything wrong. It just wasn’t meant to be. Once I accepted that and was at peace with everything I felt more relaxed. Then on Valentine’s Day of this year, I felt odd. So I took a test, totally expecting it to be another negative. Wrong. Blazing positive. We are now currently 17 weeks and expecting a little Girl this October. I don’t know why things happen the way they do and why we have to go through so much grief and loss but I do know that everything happens for a reason. We may not know right now, but one day we will. All I can say is, keep your head up, keep praying, and keep pressing on. Each day is a new day and another step forward. 💕
Rise Above
Schoolbusmom
My first marriage was an abusive one. Physically and mentally abusive. I lost my first one and finally named her Jewel. After getting out of that marriage alive I met my 2nd husband. I knew him when I was a teenager cause our family went to the same church but he is 5 years older than me. We started dating and finally got married after 4 years of being together. 2020 we celebrated our 31 wedding anniversary. With having 3 children all boys. Our first one Peanut I miscarried at 3-4 months in 1990. Tgen came our second son and then our third son who was born with a birth defect. I overcame alot of mountains with no support back then at all. My step daughter asked if I would make baby loss items since I enjoyed sewing. I said you find a pattern and I will do it. That was 12 years ago. I now help other baby loss pages including a federal non profit by providing items they need for hospitals and funeral homes. Its been a long hard road to travel but God has been with me every step of the way. I gave you the short version of my story.
Identical Twins
meaganstern
My husband and I were tossing up the idea of trying for a 3rd baby. We currently had 2 children, a girl aged 11, and a boy aged 9. I was very blessed with my first 2 pregnancies being healthy and going full term each time. It was after my second pregnancy with my son that I had late post partum hemorrhaging exactly 2 weeks after delivery due to retained placental fragments. I had an emergency D&C to stop the bleeding. I had always wanted another baby but after this ordeal it took me years and years to be brave enough to try for baby number 3. I told myself “what are the odds of that happening again?” “It was probably just some fluke thing.” Well, I graduated nursing school in May of 2019 and thats when my husband and decided we should try for baby #3. I was now 31 years old and he was 36. We tried for a few months and then in January of this year I found out I was pregnant!!! The estimated due date was my birthday! At around 5 weeks pregnant I had a teeny tiny bit of spotting when I used the restroom. I had never had this in my previous 2 pregnancies so I immediately panicked. I called and spoke to a nurse who calmed me and told me that spotting can sometimes occur in the 1st trimester. After this tiny bit of spotting I didn’t notice any more. A few weeks later when I was 8 weeks pregnant I had a tiny bit of spotting again. This time the doctors had me come in so they could do an exam and ultrasound. At this ultrasound I got the shock of my life. As I lay on that exam table and the doctor did the internal ultrasound she said to me “do you see that?” I said “yes”, but couldn’t really tell what I was looking at. Then she said “did you know you are expecting TWINS?!!!!” I was so shocked I became speechless. Our baby #3 was now baby #3 and baby #4!! A flood of emotions hit me all at once. Both babies had healthy heartbeats and were measuring right on track. I was told I would be seeing maternal fetal medicine due to this being a high risk pregnancy and that I was expecting mo/di twins which means “identical twins who have their own fluid sac but are sharing a placenta”. I immediately went home to tell my hubby the news face to face. His excitement was priceless. A few days later we told our 2 children who had begged and begged me for years to have another baby. When they found out that there was 2 babies in my belly they couldn’t believe it and were so excited for what was to come! I began seeing maternal fetal medicine when I was 12 weeks pregnant and had ultrasounds every 2 weeks. The babies were growing on track and doing great. At my 16 week ultrasound I found out my identical twins were sweet baby BOYS!!!! When I got home that day we had our older 2 children shoot off the confetti canons to reveal what their siblings were going to be. It was so exciting!! My next ultrasound was at 18 weeks and thats when I was diagnosed with twin to twin transfusion (TTTS). It was caught early and was at stage 1. I was to have another follow up ultrasound in a few days and if the TTTs had progressed then I would be headed to Seattle to have the laser ablation surgery. TTTS occurs in identical twin pregnancies when there is unequal sharing of the placenta and essentially one baby gets more blood flow than the other which causes a fluid discrepancy. The laser surgery would help equal out the sharing of the placenta and hopefully stop the TTTS. I stayed in contact with my maternal fetal medicine doctor and he assured me that we were doing the right thing by monitoring it and making sure it doesn’t progress. He would see my bright and early Monday morning to do another ultrasound and if needed I would be headed out on the earliest flight to Seattle for surgery to help my baby boys. That Sunday night before my appointment the next day I had some very low tummy pain that I thought was just gas pains. Eventually what I thought was gas turned into what I now thought was contractions and they were happening every 2 minutes. I woke my husband up to take me to the hospital. On the car ride there I was in a lot of pain but I hoped so badly that everything was alright and that it was just a stomach ache. I knew in my heart though that I was in labor. With my first 2 children I had to be induced at full term so I had never experienced anything like this. We arrived at the hospital in labor and delivery. The nurse had me get in a gown and she put monitors on my belly. Both babies were moving and had strong heartbeats but those contractions kept coming. The nurse needed to use a speculum so that she could get a swab to check for infection. She said that sometimes infection could cause early contractions. When she tried to put the speculum in she immediately took it out. That’s when my world came crashing down. She said she couldn’t get the speculum in because baby A’s head was right there already in the birth canal. I immediately became inconsolable at that time. I knew what this meant. She left to get the on call doctor to come in. Once the doctor arrived he did and ultrasound as well and said that there was nothing that could be done at this time to stop labor. A few minutes later I had a strong contraction and felt my body bear down to push. Baby A was coming out. The nurse turned around when I told her baby was coming and she caught him. They cut the cord and put him on my chest. Another strong contraction came immediately after and my water broke with Baby B. Once my water broke the contractions stopped. The doctors let me and my husband hold and love on our sweet baby A who we had named Clayton Thomas. He was born at 0243 a.m. due to early preterm labor and was born at almost 20 weeks gestation. I held him wrapped in his blanket while I waited for contractions to start back up. It had been a few hours now with no more progress and Baby B no longer had a heartbeat after my water broke. He was lying transverse and it was hard to get him delivered. I remember them telling me to push and push. I bagan to hemorrhage on the bed and I told the nurse and the doctor that I felt like I was going to throw up and pass out. My husband said I turned completely white and that he had never seen so much blood in his life. They rushed me out of the delivery room and into the operating room. They called a rapid response and the operating room was immediately flooded with people. I was in and out of consciousness but somehow I was able to deliver baby B on my own in the OR. We named him Cohen Matthew. The staff brought in my husband and baby Clayton so that we could all 4 be together before they did surgery on me. I was hemorrhaging and my placenta did not want to deliver. Once they took the boys and my husband out of the room they put me to sleep and did an emergency D&C. When I woke up in recovery the doctor told me it was the worst he had ever seen and that my placenta had to be cut and pulled out in multiple pieces. I recieved 3 blood transfusions during this surgery. My husband and I were able to spend a beautiful 18 hours holding and loving on our identical twin boys. My older children were able to come meet and hold there baby brothers who they had longed for for so many years. It was the hardest day of my life. Once my older children had left my husband and I spent another hour or 2 with Clayton and Cohen. Having the nurse take them from our room for what we knew was the last time was like being stabbed in the chest a million times over. We watched as she wheeled our sweet boys out together in their bassinet. The next day I was discharged home. I had walked into that hospital with 2 babies who were moving around and had strong heartbeats and now I was walking out empty handed and broken hearted. My boys were born just a few hours before what was supposed to be our next appointment with the maternal fetal medicine specialist on Monday. Fast forward a few days to Friday. I Began running a fever and had to go back to the same hospital I had just delivered my sweet babies. My doctor told me it was probably a uterine infection and gave me antibiotics to take at home. I continued running a fever off and on for the next week. I was seen again at the hospital due to the fever and a change in my bleeding. I was admitted this time for IV antibiotics. That night in the hospital I hemorrhaged again and was passing large clots! My nurse called the on call OB doctor to come in. He assured her over the phone that there was less than 5% chance of me needing another D&C. She refused to take that for an answer and had him get there immediately. The doctor came in and did a bedside ultrasound and said I needed surgery again right now!. Now I was headed back to the OR for my 2nd D&C and had another blood transfusion. This 2nd surgery slowed the bleeding down again and I was discharged home the following day. Now, fast forward again to the next week. Here comes a change in bleeding again (bright red and passing large clots). I called labor and delivery and the nurse told me that it could still be normal considering everything my body had been through. A few days later as I was in the shower I began hemorrhaging again and passed another huge clot. My husband and I headed back to the ER. There they examined me again. I had more blood and huge clots. I was admitted for the 3rd time. This was on a Sunday. I remained in the hospital with heavy bleeding off and on. On Tuesday I had a MRI which showed an undiagnosed placenta accreta (where the placenta grows through the uterine muscle) . My only option at this point to stop the massive bleeding and save my life was to do a hysterectomy. So that Wednesday @ only 32 years old I had to have a emergency hysterectomy and my 6th blood transfusion. These last few months have been so overwhelming as I just lost my boys this May 2020. Now not only am I grieving the loss of my twin boys but I’m also grieving the loss of my ability to ever bare another child.
Ectopic
jackson2018
My husband and I got married September 2018 and found out we were pregnant January 24, 2019 after trying for 3 years. He was so excited, he went to work that evening with the pregnancy test and told everyone!! 2 days after we found out, I was sent to the ER for horrible pain and found out it was ectopic. I lost my right tube and baby because of it.
Multiple Miscarriages
Sharon Otstot
In the 1960s women were left pretty much on their own. No laws against sexual harassment on the job, etc. My problem was that at the trimester, my body would signal that I wasn't pregnant, so my body would flush whatever was in there. My first miscarriage at 3 months was a "complete." I had cramps the night before, and when I went to the bathroom in the morning, I delivered my baby into the toilet. I woke up my husband before I went to work and told him to deliver to the doctor whatever I had scooped up into the mason jar. Late in the afternoon while I was at work my doctor called me at work and told me to get off my feet. Um, a little late. And I felt blue. I felt inadequate as a women. etc. The second miscarriage was at 3 months again. This time the new doctor thought it was caused by the fact that I had the flu. It was an incomplete, so I got a D & C. I went right back to work (I was teaching at the time) and propped myself up against the blackboard because of the pain. There again, I was never told to take time to recover. And again I was blue, felt inadequate, and was told to get hold of myself, to suck it up and go back to work. Over the years whenever my period was late I suspected I was losing babies. At the age of 29 I had my tubes tied. One good pregnancy, 1 baby born who had heart surgery, and the last baby born in cardiac arrest. 5 known pregnancies. That's my story. ... Good luck on your program. I'm very happy to see that someone stepped up and did something about it.