I'm making this gofundme for my daughter and her boyfriend who lost their baby at 20 weeks. Please take the time to read their story below, written by my daughter.

I just want to start by saying we've had an amazing support system thus far, but this has been the most tragic thing that I have ever experienced, as well as my boyfriend Lathan. He's currently taking time off work, however they only allow 1 day of bereavement so unfortunately when it comes to bills and everything right now we're struggling. I'm also not currently working and with the condition I'm in it will be awhile before I can get a job. My mom is making this for us so hopefully it can help us a little until we can get back on our feet after this loss.

If you know me, you probably already know what happened. But, if you don't then here it is.

I discovered I was pregnant in October of last year. My pregnancy had been going great and I had also been pretty healthy and feeling good about it. My anatomy scan was due for February 17th and we were so excited to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl.

Unfortunately Sunday, February 8th I noticed a steak of blood when I used the bathroom. Come Monday, I started experiencing cramps. I had been very constipated so I didn't think much of it, but to be safe I called my OBGYN Tuesday morning when they opened and they got me in same day.

The midwife I seen also thought it was from constipation, but to be safe she said she'd check my cervix to see if she could see any abrasions or cuts that may have caused the tiny amount of blood.

After checking, she broke the news that she thought she could see my amniotic sac. She brought the doctor in there to double check and he said the same thing, and that he believed I was also 4cm dilated.

We found out then I had something called an incompetent cervix, which means once the baby is big enough my cervix was just too weak to hold the weight. Unfortunately there are no warning signs, and it typically doesn't get diagnosed until it's too late.

However, a surgery called a cervical cerclage can be preformed to hopefully save the baby, which means they would have to put a stitch in my cervix.

The surgery isn't done right away, usually the mom is sent home to rest for a week, sometimes less to make sure she's not in active labor. They wanted to do mine the following morning because I was already so dilated. If the surgery is done and the labor progresses after, it can cause the stitches to bust and damage the cervix, hence why waiting is important.

Unfortunately around 11pm Tuesday night my cramping got more consistent and so I went on to the hospital. They checked my cervix to find that I was 5cm, I was progressing.

The doctor that was there - I won't name names, however he wanted to contact the high risk doctor to do the surgery still, but not until 6am. I don't know why he didn't contact him immediately. I was very out of it and it happened so fast I didn't realize fully what he was saying until after everything happened. My boyfriend Lathan was not there to advocate for me as he had went back home to grab the things we needed when I spoke with the doctor.

It would have been a 50/50 chance of working, as if it failed it would have just broken my water. Around 5am, without me even realizing it I was in full blown labor having the worst contractions. I begged for the epidural, however that same doctor would not let me have one and I also do not know the reasoning for this. My nurses and wonderful RN that was with me when I delivered tried their hardest to get me one, he just would not give the go ahead.

Instead I was given fentanyl, which didnt help with the pain but relaxed my body a little bit.

After laboring from 5-7am, my water finally fully broke. And a little after 8, my RN came in to ask if she could check how dilated I was. I said yes, and she left the room to get me more fentanyl before checking.

It wasn't but a few seconds later, and I felt my baby coming. Lathan rushed to grab the RN, but he barely made it to the door before the baby was mostly out. My RN came in, and let me know I could push whenever I was ready.

One push and I delivered my tiny beautiful baby boy who we named Elijah David. He was born at 20 weeks, 5 days gestation.

A 20-22 week old baby typically only lives 60 minutes outside of the womb. Their lungs and organs are so underdeveloped, that even with modern medicine the chances of survival are virtually zero. I'm proud to say our little Elijah doubled that time, and lived for a full 2 hours and I held him for all of it. He was 10oz and 9 inches long. He already had little eyebrows and was so so so perfect. Our other wonderful RN we had the following day made a memory box that we will cherish forever.

It unfortunately wasn't over as I still had to have my placenta removed. The doctor that had checked me the day prior came in and he was amazing to me. He took my placenta out, however there were issues with getting everything. After multiple different tries I ended up having to have a D&C.

Physically, I am okay now for the most part. Lathan and I were up for 36 hours, and we just made it home yesterday. We've been able to rest since then, and today, February 13th we went to the funeral home and got to see our sweet little baby one last time before cremation.

We're lucky the funeral home we chose paid all expenses, minus the death certificate and cremation permit.

It's gonna be a long and very hard road we have ahead of us, but I have faith we will be okay. Seeing Elijah today gave us a lot of peace that we needed. It still isn't over, but it will be alright.

I can thankfully have children in the future, however the cervical cerclage surgery would have to be done way before baby got too big, usually around 12 weeks. Or, a transabdominal cerclage can be done, however I would only be able to have C-sections. The success rate of both are very high.

Right now we've had a lot of family and friends already help out, so we aren't expecting much here, my mom just figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Any bit is greatly, greatly appreciated and we are so thankful for you all. We will never forget all of the support we have had thus far. Bills are just rough with the situation we've found ourselves in.

But still, if you read this far and decide to donate thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. Any woman and parents that have been through this are so strong. We really do appreciate you. God bless you all. I think I'm good to end it here.