Baby Nathan's Funeral Fund

This is the story of our little angel, Nathan.

As many of you know, my sister Stephanie and her fiancé Ken were overjoyed to announce her pregnancy with their little boy Nathan last year.  Daniel, their son who is 12, was just as excited to have a sibling, even more so that he would have a brother.

The exciting moments of her pregnancy have turned to sorrow and heartfelt loss of their baby boy, Nathan. 

Nathan was cremated and Stephanie and Ken are left with nothing more than his tiny footprints and the memory of him in their hearts.  It is Stephanie and Ken's wish to honor him properly. 

They found comfort in their decision to lay Nathan to rest with Ken's mom or with our parents, but the cost is not something they can afford. 

I would do anything to change their story but life had a different plan. I am now trying to raise the funds to allow them to lie their sweet Nathan to rest and help them through this time. 

Nathan's tiny footprints made an imprint in our hearts that will last forever. So remember, no matter how small your donation, it will mean the world to Stephanie, Ken, and Daniel.

HERE IS THE WHOLE STORY: 

The past has been a difficult one, and for those who know our family might be aware of some of this. I will do my best to keep things brief.

I mentioned Daniel above, who is now 12 and an absolute blessing. Though it wasn’t an easy road for Stephanie to bring him into the world.   Six weeks into her pregnancy, she became extremely ill. She suffered from severe hyperemesis gravidarum – a case that was worst than any of her doctors had seen or heard of before.

Before she had become pregnant, she worked hard for over a year to lose quite a lot of weight, and she was a size 5 when she became pregnant. Her sickness meant that she could not keep anything down. She had in-home care, was hooked to an IV 24/7, and had a pump installed into her leg administering a continuous supply of medicine, I believe every 2 minutes.  Her sickness caused her to lose over 40 lbs in her first trimester – the sight of her thin, frail body is one I’ll never forget.  There were a few times we nearly lost her.

Nearly 7 months into her pregnancy, her sickness started to subside. The color returned to her cheeks and she was able to have the pump removed and return to a ‘normal’ way of living.

My parents and our siblings were so close and happy she and the baby were doing well. My Dad probably more excited than anyone to be honest.


On my sister’s due date, our dad passed away suddenly. To try and explain the gravity of this loss would be impossible.

Daniel was born just after the funeral services concluded, and he was, and still is, such an incredible gift.

Fast forward through our house catching fire a few weeks later, years of living with family and friends while our house was under construction, a serious accident involving our brother, the loss of our grandma, and everything else life through our way. Things were trying, but we stuck together to get through.

A handful of years later, life began to ‘normalize’ for our family. We were back in our house and each taking steps to move forward.  A couple years passed and our mom was taking classes to be a foster & adoptive parent (a dream of her and my dad’s), my sister Desiree and I moved to London for Graduate school, and Stephanie amongst other things, met Ken.

Then, a few short months later, in October 2012, our mom passed away suddenly. We had been through the sudden loss of my father, but losing our mom broke us all in a different way.

I will focus on Stephanie, and her hardships during this time. It is important to note that after losing my dad, Stephanie was also like a pseudo partner to my mom, and my mom like a second parent and grandma to Daniel. We all shared an extremely close bond with my mom, and Stephanie had a unique bond too in addition to a closeness no one else shared.



Ken was able to understand the magnitude of this loss as he too lost his mom, however, Stephanie was soon diagnosed with anxiety and depression -  something that consumed her for the months following the loss of our mom.

Her mental state was paired with the reality of our parent’s house expenses, bills and unfortunate disputes with family over probate and what would come of our parents’ house and belongings.

Not many people know how bad things got, including our other siblings. Without getting into this fully, we came very close to losing her again. 

Ken stuck by Stephanie and Daniel, and they grew stronger as a family. Ken proposed to Stephanie in 2015, and Daniel for the first time had someone he proudly calls ‘Dad’. 

They knew they wanted to grow their family, and planned as much as two can plan to bring another incredible little person into the world.

They had been trying for over a year when Stephanie saw two pink lines on the pregnancy test. I remember helping her think of a clever way to tell Ken – she got a blue and a pink cupcake and a lovely card to surprise him.   They were over the moon and couldn’t wait to share the news.

In April 2016, when Stephanie was around 8 weeks pregnant, Stephanie miscarried and they were heartbroken.

They found strength in their love, and decided they would continue trying for her to get pregnant.

Then, miraculously, two months later Stephanie took another test and saw two lines! They decided to wait until the second trimester to tell anyone after her previous miscarriage.


Around 7 weeks pregnant, Stephanie again became very sick. We were all prepared this time at least, and as I said, they planned as best they could financially knowing she would not be well enough to work full-time, if at all.

They soon told Daniel, as they didn’t want him to be alarmed as to why she was so sick. Daniel has been asking for a little brother or sister since he could speak. He definitely gets that from my parents – he loves babies.

I was lucky enough to share in the moment Stephanie and Ken told him. They surprised him with little onesies and t-shirts, where he quickly learned he was going to be a big brother.  He was absolutely thrilled, only topped by the moment he found out it was a BOY! He was about to have a brother.

Soon after, everyone knew. They were so happy to share the news their little boy on social media for all of their friends and family to see. 



As she entered her third trimester, we were all set for the baby shower. The Air bnb venue was booked, custom invites were ordered and addressed to be sent out to guests, and I even had a list of all the games we would play.

This brings us to the present months.

I said before they had planned as best as two people could plan to bring a little person into this world, but what they didn't plan for, and what no parent ever could ever plan for, is what happened next.

"I'm sorry, but I can't find a heartbeat."  Those are the words my sister and Ken will never forget.

When my sister messaged me, our other sister and I, we were in absolute shock. I was 6,000 miles away from her and the doctor had to be wrong. 

There aren't any words to describe the heartache and even the anger that was felt at that moment.

Stephanie then had to face the further reality that she had to go through the traumatic, natural labor with nothing to gain. Her heart and Ken's weren't broken - they were shattered. Their Nathan was gone before they even had the chance to meet him.

I immediately flew back to the US to be with them, and our other sister joined us as well.  Daniel didn't know yet what had happened. We did our best to give him a couple good days. We focused on letting him know we were all there for him, and trying to encourage as many laughs as possible. Then, after dinner, we all sat down and his dad told him what had happened. 

What we saw was true heartbreak and confusion on his sweet face. We all focused on supporting him through this, and my other sister and I made sure to also give Stephanie and Ken time to themselves to feel all they were feeling.

Nathan was cremated and Stephanie and Ken are left with nothing more than his tiny footprints and the memory of him in their hearts.  

It is Stephanie and Ken's wish to honor him properly. 

They found comfort in their decision to lay Nathan to rest with Ken’s mom at Forest Lawn mausoleum or with both of our parents who are at Westminster Memorial Park in the mausoleum.

When looking into the arrangements, we were told it would cost around $10,000 just for the 'plot', opening fee and marker. 

As I said earlier, Stephanie and Ken planned as best they could, but not for this.  

They both need some time off work to grieve, and Stephanie will need to continue to focus on her mental health with her Doctor insisting she does not return to work full time for at least a few months.

I would do anything to change their story but life had a different plan. 

I am now trying to raise the funds to allow them to lie their sweet Nathan to rest and help them through this time. 

Nathan's tiny footprints mad an imprint in our hearts that will last forever, So remember, no matter how small your donation, it will mean the world to Stephanie, Ken, and Daniel – and it will be something they will never forget.

And please.. if you can, share their story. 

All my love, 

Ashleigh