Rachel was our third child. Our first was born at 34 weeks by emergency C-Section because of foetal distressed caused by APH and he spent the first 3 weeks of his life in NICU. Our second baby was born at term with no problem.



When I was 12 weeks pregnant with Rachel I started to bleed and my GP said I was probably having a miscarriage, however, I did not miscarry and at 16 weeks was admitted into hospital to have several blood transfusions. Over the next few months I continued to haemorrhage and was constantly in and out of hospital..... that was very distressing as I hated having to leave my two older children behind with their grandparents. At 23 weeks my waters broke but I didn’t go into labour. After spending another week in hospital I was sent home as the doctors said I was less likely to get an infection at home than in hospital.



At 26 weeks I was blue lighted into hospital as by this time I was haemorrhaging very heavily and I was losing large bits of the placenta. I went into labour not long after and was told my baby would most likely be born dead. I hated that labour, my mind fought my body to stop the labour but with every push I knew I couldn’t stop it from happening. Rachel was born weighing 1lb 10oz at exactly 26 weeks. She was alive! I heard her cry! They took her straight down to NICU and said that if she made it through the first 48 hours then she would have a really good chance. Sadly, 48 hours later her organs started to pack up and we had to make the most heartbreaking decision of our lives ..... to switch off her life support as nothing more could be done for her. We got to hold her for the first and last time and she drew her last breath whilst her father held her.



She would have been 26 years old this August and not a day goes by when we don’t think of her and all the milestones we’ve missed with her ..... being a big sister to her little brother who was born 3 years and 3 months after she died, seeing her older brother and sister marry, how she would have loved being an auntie to her niece and nephew, but we were lucky to have her in our lives for that precious but short period of time. She will always be in our hearts.