A rainbow baby is a baby that is born following a miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or infant loss. In the real world, a beautiful and bright rainbow follows a storm and gives hope of things getting better” (Source: Kicks Count)
A very special thank you to Aria’s mom and dad for sharing their story with all of us.
“We started trying to conceive in September 2014, we quickly became pregnant then had a miscarriage in November 2014.
In December 2014 we were thrilled to find out we were pregnant again! At the 12 week ultrasound, all we expected was a first glimpse and a photo of our baby but instead we were told our baby had a nuchal translucency greater than the norm. We then met with a genetic counsellor and were sent for an amniocentesis where we could see ourselves that our baby was not healthy. The physician informed us our baby was not viable and encouraged us to terminate the pregnancy as it would inevitably end in a miscarriage regardless. With this information, the confirmation that our baby had Turner Syndrome, the extreme nausea, the fear of having to explain to people that we were expecting however our baby would not survive, we terminated the pregnancy at 16 weeks gestation in March 2015. Her name is Mira. We loved her from the moment we found out we were going to be parents. We were never able to hold her however she is always in our hearts.
We started trying to conceive again 3 months later but this time it wouldn’t happen. We were referred to the Ottawa Fertility Centre. During the workup they found that some bone and cartilage remained from the last pregnancy and suspected it was acting as an IUD. I underwent one procedure to have it removed only to find out tissue remained. I underwent another procedure and finally in December 2016 we were told we could start trying again as they had removed all of the tissue. We conceived the following month.
Aria was born on September 10th 2017, 3 years after we started trying to conceive. She has changed our lives, although we suffered years of sadness, she was so worth the wait! Maybe all that sadness and grief makes us appreciate her that much more, who knows but we have never been so grateful for anything in our lives. Every smile, every tear, every moment is special to us, we take none of it for granted! The rainbow baby photoshoot is so special to us, it allows us to celebrate all the happiness Aria has brought to our lives in a way that commemorates Mira. We are truly grateful to Sara for this opportunity.”
