No parent should ever have to arrange a funeral for their child, yet in this cruel world this is what we have had to do. 

Rich and I were so excited when we found out on 14 May 2020 that we were expecting our first baby. That positive pregnancy test had us floating with so much excitement and we started to love our little baby since then. We had a beautiful pregnancy and I really enjoyed growing our baby. He was so happy and active and all the appointments showed he was growing perfectly. It was always a matter of 'when' we would be bringing our baby home, not 'if'. But at 40 weeks 5 days I noticed less movements and we went to the hospital to get checked. What came next shattered our lives and dreams forever... The doctors confirmed our beautiful baby had died. To say we are devastated is an understatement. 

The following 4 days were spent in the hospital being induced to bring our baby boy into the world. During that time I had phantom flutters where I kept feeling him move and I kept waiting for him to kick like he always did. Sadly he never kicked again. 

On 30th January 2021 at 1am, after a short labour and beautiful birth (as strange as that might sound) our baby was born sleeping. We named him Jacob Lloyd Jones 💙  He was gorgeous with long eyelashes, cheeky cheeks, a beautiful mouth and a tiny button nose. He looked like a mini version of his daddy, and we fell in love with him even more than we ever thought possible. We held him, cuddled him, spoke to him and spent precious time with him, time that we'll never get again. When we left the hospital, instead of walking out with our baby in a car seat full of excitement, we left grieving and with a memory box that was kindly provided by the charity 4Louis. 

We couldn't be more grateful to the 4Louis charity for helping us and giving us memories that we'll treasure forever. In the memory box we have Jacob's hand and foot prints, a lock of his blond hair, a book, candle, blanket, a keyring which Jacob also holds in his hand, a teddy that Jacob is cuddling with him. These memories are what help us get through each day and will help us forever. 

We love to talk about Jacob. He is our beautiful son, our first baby and we will never forget him. We want to keep his memory alive and want our friends and family to talk about him, to remember him and honour him. Even though no one met him, he has touched so many hearts and he was and is a very loved little boy. He is gone but never forgotten. 

We are raising awareness of stillbirth - a subject which is not talked about, yet it happens to 1 in 200 pregnancies. We are also raising as much money as we can for 4Louis charity so that we can help other bereaved parents that will sadly go through what we did. 

Jacob's funeral will be on 12th March 2021 where we won't say our goodbyes, but promise him we'll be seeing him again. We don't want any cards, flowers or gifts but kindly ask that you donate to this amazing charity who have given us memories with our baby that we'll treasure forever. 

Thank you so much for your help and support. 

Love from Ionica and Rich xxx