Story by Joanne Gomes. “We were cleared by our doctor to try again after one month of healing, and as luck would have it, we got pregnant right away. We booked appointments early, had an early scan at 6 weeks that showed a vibrant heartbeat, and were told that lightning rarely strikes twice. Only between 1-3% of women experience a second miscarriage. We were told to relax, that our first miscarriage was probably a fluke, a bad set of chromosomes that landed themselves in the wrong place.”

Story by Laura Miller. “With shaking hands and hearts in mouths, we hugged and hugged and kept checking that those lines were still there as we basked in the bliss of our new names: Mama and Papa To Be. A mum and a dad. Baby, you made three.”

Story by Jessica Meyers. “The air smells strange and the wind is shifting differently, the hail and rain are so heavy that visibility is impossible. This can’t be the one – you’re not ready. You don’t have time to protect yourself from what Mother Nature just birthed. You can hear its deafening ugly roar, but nothing can prepare you for the devastation an F5 tornado brings. It rips you off your feet and slams you into debris that should have killed you. You feel like every limb is going to be torn from your body – like you’re being turned inside out. You want to die. Why haven’t you died? Well, life isn’t that kind.”

Story by Elena Williams. “I spent the day with my parents shopping for the baby. We shopped at the baby Gap for clothes and picked out nursery furniture from Pottery Barn. It was a happy day. That was until our appointment at 5:30pm…”

Story by Jennifer Hernandez. “No words can describe how heartbreaking and beautiful it was to meet our son for the first time and also have to say goodbye. No words can describe how perfect he felt in our arms, how good it felt to smell and kiss his baby soft skin, or how gut-wrenching it is to have all that perfection taken away from you. That day will always and forever be the most bittersweet day of my life. But it is on that day that I had a little bit of heaven in my arms.”

Story by Bodi. “At 3:25 am after 18 hours of labor I knew it was time to push. There was fear, but for the first time excitement kicked in. I looked at the screen before the doctor walked in, her heart was still beating and it was time to start.”

Story by Lori Davis. “We arrived at the hospital and were quickly placed in a room. The first nurse was unable to find the heartbeat. I thought that was strange since it was so easy to find at all of our other appointments. But maybe Elliot was in a funny position. The next nurse tried but was unable to find the heartbeat. They called a midwife in with an ultrasound machine. She was also unable to detect the heartbeat. Finally the OB came and confirmed our worst fear. Elliot’s heart had stopped beating.”