Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope

Julie

Mum to Charlotte Rose

Stillborn at 28 weeks on April 14th, 2010

Perth, Western Australia

My 12 week scan was booked in for Dec 22nd. Never in my wildest dreams did I consider that this day would hold the news that it did. I went along to my scan full of the anticipation of seeing my baby for the first time. 

Shortly after the scan my Dr revealed to us that there appeared to be something wrong with our baby. Our baby was particularly small and there was fluid on the neck. My blood immediately went cold. What? A CVS test was performed and we went home anxiously awaiting the results. 

The very next day, we received the news we were dreading - our baby had Trisomy 18, a condition incompatiable with life. We were absolutely devastated. What do we say to people now? We were waiting to tell everyone the good news that we were expecting a baby. As we learnt more about Trisomy 18 over the following months, we gradually began to accept the very sad fact that we were going to lose our baby. 

During the 5th and 6th months of my pregnancy my blood pressure soared and I became very unwell. We struggled to tell people what was happening in our family. We didn't know how to tell them that we were having a baby but our baby was expected to die. 

I regularly visited the hospital to have my blood pressure checked. During one of these visits, at 28 weeks, we discovered that our much loved baby had passed away. On April 14, 2010 our little girl Charlotte Rose was born. It was both a surreal and a devastating time for us. We honoured her short life with a beautiful funeral service 2 weeks later. 

This journey of grief and loss will never be forgotten and will be forever engraved on our hearts.

Julie blogs at www.wedreamedofyou.blogspot.com  

You can contact her at gjmdouglas@hotmail.com