Tuesday, Jan 17, 2017, Husband leaned down to say good bye as he was setting off to work, it must have been some time around 3:30 am. After he left I realized Penelope did not move, and she usually is very responsive to her Daddy’s good byes. I thought maybe it was too early for her since he normally leaves for work a bit later so I cradled my belly and went back to sleep. I woke again at 5:30 am and realized  Penelope was still not moving, I poked her a few times to provoke some response but nothing. I went online and researched something that would help provoke a movement; so I had some ice cold water, laid on my left side, poked some more, then had a kids juice and nothing happened.  I woke my kids for school and dropped them off, by this time I am feeling very worried as Penelope still has not moved. I called my doctors office, they asked me to come to Labor and Delivery. I drove straight there after dropping my kids off at school, when I arrived a nurse was already waiting for me. After being placed in a triage room the nurse comes in and attempts to find a heart beat, she found nothing; she said she was going to have the ultrasound technician come in. My worry started growing but I still remained positive. Once the technician came in and started looking at my baby, my worry turned into total fear. She was not saying anything but I was looking at a very still silhouette of my Baby Girl, I had had enough ultrasounds throughout my pregnancy to know where her heart was at and I saw a frozen heart. I knew what her answer would be but I just needed to hear it….. her answer to my question was “No, her heart is not beating”. At this point I am in total shock, there is nothing but numbness flowing through my body. The doctor came in and gave the ultrasound a try and confirms my Precious Baby Girl has died. The rest of the events leading to Baby Penelope’s birth are a blur. She was born that evening. During her birth doctor discovered her umbilical cord had a knot, which was the cause for her death. Born so gorgeous and peaceful, so silent and still.

We were so blindsided, we were so confused, we were devastated. Today we know what a true knot is, we also know what stillbirth is, but we remain blindsided, confused and devastated. The only thing we have left is the memory of our Penelope and a huge desire to make her voice heard.  

1 in 160 pregnancies in the US alone end in stillbirth. Star Legacy Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to stillbirth awareness, research and education. They provide support to families who have experienced stillbirth or neonatal death.

Please help us Honor our daughter and raise awareness by joining Team Penelope or support us in any way you can...donate, volunteer, share, recruit!

With lots of Love,                                                                                                                            Henry, Jessica, Alexiz, Rigo, Kike, Sophie and Adelina in Penelope's Honor :)