Where to begin!?

On the 6th June 2017 we found out we were pregnant with our second child! We were excited, happy and nervous all in one go. The 12 week scan came along and sigh of relief....all was well! 3 more scans followed including our 20 week scan where Rosie was told she was ‘going to have a baby brother’. She hugged me so tight and said ‘thank you’, she was already in love and planning how she was going to help with her little ‘Bub Bubs’.

The pregnancy continued to go well, there were no concerns at routine midwife appointments and due date came and went. We were booked in for an induction 11 days after due date as that was the earliest date available so we continued to try and bring on labour with long walks, curries etc.

Then finally Leanne went into labour 9 days overdue and contractions progressed quickly so after tucking Rosie into bed and getting childcare and the last bits and pieces ready we headed into hospital. Due to the ‘low risk’ pregnancy we headed to the Birthing Center at the RVI for the normal checks and all was well with Leanne. Then the midwife went to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. Nothing. She tried again. Nothing. She brought in another midwife. Nothing. We were taken upstairs and scanned where it was confirmed by 2 consultants that our baby had died. Our world collapsed. We don’t know when. We don’t know how. We don’t know why.

What followed will remain between ourselves and close friends and family. But our beautiful son Oliver Luke Colpitts was born sleeping on 21.02.18 at 5:24 weighing a whopping 8lb 1oz. Nothing can prepare you for the silence of a stillbirth. He was perfect and looked exactly like his big sister Rosie.

We were able to spend around 11 hours with our boy making memories and this is where 4Louis come in. Our amazing midwife brought us a memory box from this wonderful charity. In this was a teddy for us to leave with Oliver and a matching one to bring home, ways to print his hand and footprints, a balloon to release among many other things. When you come to the hospital prepared to take home a full term healthy baby you do not think to pack things like this as you do not have to expect to have to make all of your memories in hospital. The memory box meant we have a visual reminder of our boy and his huge hands and feet!!

We are so grateful for these memories and will spend our lives raising awareness and money for this amazing charity. It costs £30 to produce one of these boxes and on average SEVENTEEN families go through this every single day. These boxes are light in times of darkness and they are something the families can treasure forever.

This is why I’ve signed up for the Great North Run for 4Louis to try and raise as much money as possible for this wonderful charity. If anyone can spare even £2 this will help. The support we have had from this charity is priceless.

While we try and work out what our lives look like without him here in our arms we will use the love we have in our hearts for him to do good. He lives on through us.

Thank you for reading