Cortney’s Story

Rylee’s Story 

January 9, 2023. The day that changed my life forever. Finally, a positive pregnant test. Instantly, I burst into tears unsure whether I should be ecstatic or terrified. I couldn’t believe it. Mixed thoughts and emotions ran through my body and I thought… “this is it. I’m going to become a mom!”

My husband and I were excited and we couldn’t wait to meet our little one! You hear pregnancy horror stories about morning sickness and just feeling miserable. Thankfully, I had not experienced any of those negative symptoms. Instead, our horror story turned into something much worse. 

My entire pregnancy was perfect. The day we found out we were going to have a little girl, Rylee Anne, my heart melted into pieces. Heartbeat was great, measurements were exactly where they should have been. I found out that the placement of my placenta was blocking where movements are felt, but when I did feel her, it was a blessing. 

Finally, the third trimester! We are almost there! On July 4, 2023, I became very ill. I could not stay out of the bathroom. I felt like I had been drinking, holding onto the walls as I walked and sweating profusely. The next day, I called the doctor and they instantly sent me for a stress test. On July 5, 2023 my whole life had changed. The doctor entered with an ultrasound machine and began what seemed to be a normal exam. “There must be something wrong with the machine. I can’t see things clearly. I’m going to grab a better machine.”, said the doctor. Instantly, I knew something was wrong, but I was not expecting the outcome we received. She returned a few minutes later with a new machine and a second doctor. The exam began again and two seconds later, both doctors made eye contact and shook their heads yes. “I’m so sorry. We can no longer find a heartbeat.” Those words are forever engraved in my head and will never go away. At this time, there was no known cause as to why this had happened. 

Our precious Rylee Anne was brought into this world with her angel wings ready on July 7, 2023 at 6:59pm, measuring at 3 pounds and 16 inches long. 

No one is ever prepared for this to happen. It was difficult to keep my head on straight. Did I do something wrong? Why did this happen to me? Grief is a terrible thing to have to go through and the pain never truly goes away. 

We sent her for an autopsy and any other tests that were offered in order to find out some type of reasoning. We needed closure.  After being told multiple times that there was no known cause, we began asking questions. Finally, the right set of eyes found the cause. She unfortunately had a stroke in the womb, which is said to be extreme rare but the cause of the stroke remains unknown. 

Processing the tragic loss of our daughter is extremely challenging. We weren’t sure when we would be ready to try again, if at all. Sometimes, the best things in life can also be those that are unexpected. Thankfully, we were blessed with the news of being pregnant with our rainbow baby in February of 2024. We are expecting our sweet little girl, Adalynn Marie to arrive in November of 2024. 

Photos taken by Amy Kell.

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