This was my first pregnancy! My husband were overjoyed to have this baby girl.

I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy up until the 20 week anatomy scan. At 20 weeks she was measuring at the 15th percentile. Doctor said not to worry just come back in about a month. At that follow up (24 weeks 6 days), baby was in the 11th percentile. We were still told not to worry and to will follow up.

5 days after that, I noticed my legs began to swell. I am a nurse on my feet all day, so I just assumed it was normal. However, 8 days after the 24 week scan I woke up with horrible heartburn, back pain, and decreased fetal movement. So I brought myself L&D thinking it would be a quick trip.

When I got there, my blood pressure was in the 170s and I had low platelets. They were able to get my blood pressure under control, but baby was now in the 3rd percentile and Doppler showed disrupted blood flow to the placenta. We thought we would ride out in the hospital until 34 weeks but at 26 weeks and 4 days my BP because elevated. Baby Briella also failed the stress test and biophysical profile of her breathing.

I was brought in to an emergency c-section full of hope and optimism. When I awoke my husband and I were told they had been unsuccessfully working on Briella for 2 hours. We had to make the hardest decision of our life to withdraw care. We were able to hold her while she passed. After delivery I developed HELLP Syndrome but thankfully it quickly corrected. I was able to physically recover but my heart will forever be broken.