Kaitlyn's Story

Hello! My name is Kaitlyn Peters and this is my daughter’s, Annabelle June, story. I found out I was pregnant with her the first week of December 2019 after a year of trying to conceive and was so excited! I had horrible HG the entire pregnancy and threw up every day at least once. Other than that at every single doctors appointment they said she was growing perfectly. Because of Covid restrictions I had an appointment every 6 weeks instead of every 2-4 weeks like you normally would. At my 30 week appointment, I went in and my blood pressure was elevated with protein in my urine as well. They admitted me and monitored me for 3 hours then sent me home saying everything seemed fine but to monitor my blood pressure. The day before my 32 week appointment, my blood pressure was 175/102 when I took it that morning. I immediately called the doctors office and went in. The admitted me again, but this time was different. They transferred me by ambulance to a bigger hospital with a NICU because I had now been diagnosed with preeclampsia and they were afraid baby would come early because of it. I was in the hospital for 3 days. Baby was diagnosed with IUGR and there was a problem with the blood flow to/from the placenta. That Thursday they sent me home with the plan to see a high risk doctor at MFM the following Monday at to try and make it to 35 weeks to give her lungs time to develop. On Monday I went in to the doctors office and due to Covid restrictions my husband had to wait in the car. They laid me down and started the ultrasound and I immediately knew something was wrong because there was no heartbeat blipping across the screen and the ultrasound was done faster than normal. The high risk doctor came in and said “I’m sorry, there’s no heartbeat, baby passed sometime over the weekend”. And that’s when the world started spinning upside down. I was admitted into the hospital and induced at 5:00pm on June 22, 2020. Annabelle June was stillborn at 9:09am on June 23, 2020. We took pictures, held her, had her baptized, and cried. The nurses and doctors cried with us. A lot of my time in the hospital is a blur because of the magnesium drip I was on to prevent seizures. I remember her feeling so heavy even though she was only 2lbs 14oz. I remember watching my husband has he sobbed over her body. I remember the confusion of having to make decisions that no parent should have to make. We decided to have her cremated so that we could bring her home. Her urn has its own special cabinet that gets decorated every holiday. And I remember the nurse wheeling me out of the hospital with nothing but a decorative pillow case with her blanket, onesie, baptism dress, hat, pictures, hand/foot prints, and resources to help with grief. For her angelversary this year, I had baby burial/christening gowns made from my wedding dress that I donated with crocheted baby blankets to the hospital in her memory. Thank you for letting me share her story.