Our family is participating in this fundraising walk in memory of our daughter, Lucy Hope Rice, who was born on April 27th, 2018 at 18 weeks gestation.  The night we found out she had died, I had gone in for a routine checkup, and when it was time to listen to her heartbeat, we couldn't find one with the dop-tone.  So I drove to the hospital for an ultrasound, praying and talking to Lucy the whole time, hoping she'd be ok.  But she wasn't.  The ultrasound revealed that our precious baby girl's heart had stopped beating. Two days later, I was induced and Lucy was born the next morning.  We have missed her every day since, and would give almost anything to change what happened.

In our case, the doctors were not able to tell us much.  Tests revealed that Lucy had actually died at 15-16 weeks, but she was completely healthy.  No DNA problems,  no structural concerns in her tiny little body, and no structural concerns in mine. Her death is the result of unknown causes.  Unfortunately, this is the case in roughly half of all miscarriages.

The Star Legacy Foundation provides support to families, like ours, who have lost a baby.  These services have proved invaluable to us, and we have very much appreciated their help.  We would like to support them in continuing this support for other families.  They are also dedicated to funding research to prevent stillbirth and infant deaths.  My hope is that this research will lead to a way to save babies, like Lucy, who are lost too soon, and to keep their families from having to experience the tremendous pain of such a tragic loss.

Thank you so much for helping us remember our sweet Lucy with your donation.  I promise you, it will mean more than you could ever know to the families that it helps, and the babies it might save.

With gratitude, 

Ryan, Kristen, Harvey, and Lucy