As some of you may know, my husband Austin and I had to say goodbye to our first child just as we should have been welcoming her into the world. Our baby was due in January of 2019 but very unexpectedly, after not feeling much movement from her one Saturday afternoon, we found out that she had passed away on December 8th, 2018. I was 36 weeks along and had had no issues with the pregnancy until that point. I was induced and delivered her four terribly long days later. When she was finally born, she was severely wrapped in her umbilical cord, making this the very likely cause of her death. She was a beautiful little girl, weighing 6 lbs 6 oz and measuring 19 inches long. We named her Aurora Marie as this celestial name makes us think of the heavens and her, and it is also the name of the Disney Princess, Sleeping Beauty. 

However, as morbid as it is to think about, she had unfortunately already started to undergo post death changes as she waited in my womb to be born. Her skin was starting to peel and her already fragile body was even softer and felt more breakable in my arms than a newborn should. As the few hours passed that we were able to hold her, we could see even more how the post mortem changes continued and felt we couldn't hold on to her any longer and had to say goodbye again so her body could be taken to the funeral home. This was about 5 hours after she was born. Thinking back, it felt like 10 minutes, and I would give anything just to be able to hold her one more time. 

After learning more about pregnancy and infant loss and becoming involved in some local support groups, I learned of something called a Cuddle Cot. This is something that I wish the hospital Aurora was born at would have had so that we would have been able to spend that extra time with our precious baby. A cuddle cot is essentially a cooling device in a bassinet intended to help delay these changes in an infant after death so that their family can spend more time with them (link for the manufacturer website listed below). Unfortunately, they are on the expensive side and many hospitals only receive them through donation. 

http://flexmort.com/cuddle-cots/ 

This campaign is aimed at raising money for our family to be able to donate a cuddle cot to the hospital Aurora was born at, Christus Spohn South, in Corpus Christi, TX, in the hopes that no other family going through this terrible tragedy will have to feel the pressure of time as they are spending their last moments with their child. I am thankful to also have been connected with the organization Walk to Remember Inc., based out of our home town of Fort Wayne, IN, who will be accepting the funds from this donation and using them to purchase the cuddle cot from Flexmort for us. I’m addition to the cuddle cot, we will also be purchasing an engraved memorial plate to honor Aurora Marie. Any exceed in our goal will be given to Walk to Remember Inc. for them to use as needed to help raise awareness for and assist families suffering from pregnancy and infant loss.  If for any reason we do not meet our goal and are unable to purchase the cuddle cot, whatever funds we do raise will be donated to Walk to Remember Inc. for other bereavement and infant loss needs in memory of Aurora. 

http://www.walktorememberfw.org 

We thank you in advance for any amount you are able to give. We hope through this fundraiser to be able to raise more awareness for the terrible and many times under acknowledged tragedy of pregnancy and infant loss, and to also keep the memory and spirit of our beautiful Aurora alive.