When a rainbow baby is expected, the grief journey changes. Each step is a "baby step" in navigating the new challenges that come with pregnancy and parenthood after loss. Baby Steps is a peer-led support group of Emma's Footprints who's mission is to provide a community and support for loss parents who are expecting or raising their rainbow baby.

🌈Learn more about Baby Steps here: www.emmasfootprints.com/support-groups

🌈Join the Baby Steps Facebook group here: https://bit.ly/BabyStepsFB

Listen as Lauren shares her son, Henry with us. She had two previous healthy pregnancies which resulted in her living children Rowan and Calvin. Her pregnancy with her son, Calvin, was smooth sailing until delivery. At delivery she was told Calvin had too much fluid around his heart. He spent 5 weeks in the NICU but overall lives a healthy life. Her third pregnancy ended much differently with her son Henry. At an appointment at 18 weeks gestation, she was told Henry had too much fluid around his heart. After close monitoring, they were told their baby had Hydrops Fetalis which is a life-threatening problem. Hydrops develops when too much fluid leaves the baby's bloodstream and goes into the tissues. At 22 weeks she no longer felt Henry move and was told he no longer had a heartbeat. He was stillborn at 22 weeks gestation.

Listen as Regina shares her four losses including 2 miscarriages, 1 ectopic pregnancy and the loss of her daughter, Jordan, at 17 weeks gestation due to a cord accident.

Listen as Sofiya shares her son Emerson with us. Sofiya and her husband Bill were over the moon excited when they finally got pregnant after more than a year of trying to conceive. She reflects back on the pregnancy being difficult from the very beginning. She experienced very heavy bleeding and found out she had a subchorionic hematoma. She went into preterm labor at 19 weeks and delivered her son, Emerson.

Listen as Jessica shares her pregnancy and delivery of her daughter, Freya. Jessica had a healthy pregnancy until she was 19 weeks gestation. At that point she began bleeding fairly heavily. Her doctors told her they suspected a placental abruption. From 19 weeks to 23 weeks gestation, Jessica was in and out of the hospital multiple times due to her heavy bleeding. At 23 weeks 3 days, Jessica went into preterm labor and Freya was born on January 12, 2023.

Listen as Maci shares her daughter Luna with us. Luna was born in March of 2021. She had a textbook pregnancy and delivery. Maci and her husband's lives were flipped upside down when at two months old, Luna was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She fought hard, but in December 2021, Luna passed away.

Listen as Courtney shares what it was like to find out her daughter, Celeste, did not have a heartbeat at 22 weeks gestation. In 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, she attended her 22 week anatomy scan alone. At that appointment she was told her baby no longer had a heartbeat. Listen as Courtney shares that experience and giving birth to her daughter Celeste who was stillborn.

Listen as Regina shares her sweet Reina with us. Regina went into preterm labor at 25 weeks and delivered Reina. Only six days before her delivery, Regina found out her baby had down syndrome. After birth, Reina had to have surgery to repair her PDA valve. The surgery was successful, but her little lungs had become cystic. She fought hard and lived for 69 on life support.

Thank you Regina for sharing your sweet Reina with our listeners.

Listen as Morgan shares what it was like to experience two stillbirths in less than a year. Morgan and her husband Jason were overjoyed when they got pregnant right after getting married. Her pregnancy was very smooth until her 20 week ultrasound when she was told her baby didn't have a heartbeat. She was induced and her son, Harrison, was stillborn. After testing, they found out Morgan had experienced a Triploid Pregnancy which is a rare genetic condition that causes the baby to have extra chromosomes in their cells.

Longing to start their family, with the clear from their doctor, they got pregnant again right away. Right after her 20 week ultrasound she went into preterm labor and gave birth to her daughter Harper who didn't have a heartbeat.

Listen as Allie shares losing her twins, Sunny and River, in an early term miscarriage. Allie and her boyfriend, Matt, were ecstatic when they found out they were expecting because they truly though that they were unable to get pregnant. As a twin herself, Allie was not necessarily shocked when she discovered she was expecting twins, she was just overjoyed at the thought of becoming a mom. However, all of her joy turned to sorrow the very next day when she miscarried.