I’m Stephanie, and I’m creating this campaign to help my daughter Victoria. She has been so excited to be expecting her first baby in a few months. This week, on Wednesday (1/25), we found out that the baby was a boy! Our whole family was excited, and my other four kids were so happy to have a nephew coming! Then, less than 24 hours later, she started feeling crampy. That led to her water breaking early Thursday morning, so I told her to go to the hospital. She did and was bleeding heavily by then, so they sent her to another local hospital in an ambulance.
I booked an earlier flight home from my work trip and rushed to the airport as she was checked into L&D. We were told that they didn’t know why her water broke at 21 weeks pregnant, but that since it had stopped, as had the cramping, they would do their best to get the little guy a few weeks older so that he could have a fighting chance when born. Hours later, as I drove from the airport to the hospital, I got a call and listened over speakerphone to my daughter giving birth, in extreme physical and emotional pain.
Lorenzo Collins was stillborn at 5:23pm on 1/26/23. He weighed 1.2 pounds and was 11 inches long. He was adorable and perfect, with the cutest nose, tiniest fingers and fingernails, and looked like he was sucking on his tongue. We got to hold him, kiss him, and tell him how much we love him.
I can’t take away my daughter’s pain, I can’t bring my grandson back, I can’t navigate this journey of grief for her. I know that every pregnant person, every stroller, baby, and even her own nursery at home will hurt so bad to see for a long while. So what I’d like to do for her is take away some of her financial stress during this time. I want her to be able to heal and grieve without worrying about rushing back to work so she can pay her rent. I want her to be able to pay the medical bills from this trauma without the heartache of struggling to pay for something she lost.
This is something I hope to give her with some help from friends and family. No pressure or obligation, but if you would like to help me help her, it would mean so much!
