Our Story.

We are Tiffany and John Breininger. We live in a little town in Pennsylvania. We were getting ready to start our family, so excited for all that was to come. Emma Grace was silently born but spoke volumes on July 22nd, 2014 at 10:53 pm. She weighed 7 lbs and was 20 3/4 inches. She had her mommy’s nose, mouth, and chin and Daddy’s hair, height, long legs, and big feet. She was the most beautiful precious little angel we have ever and will ever see.

I was pregnant 39 weeks and 5 days. It had been a perfect and healthy pregnancy. Emma and I had a two vessel umbilical cord, so she had frequent check-ups and monthly ultrasounds. As she grew it was no longer a concern that she would be too small, but the concern laid that she was going to be a very big girl. Every check up was wonderful, strong healthy heartbeat. Every time we heard that heartbeat it was like the first time, heart bursting, all encompassing joy.

It wasn’t until the morning of Monday July 21st that I knew something was not right. I thought I did not feel her move in a day and a half. We went to the doctors and we found out her heart had stopped beating, so did ours that day. Nothing in the world can prepare you for such a moment. We were in complete disbelief and shock. I remember sobbing and screaming “no, no, no!” over and over again. There is no way this could be real, this was happening to us. We had to make plans to go to the hospital to deliver our dream, our future, our life, but to know none of it would come to fruition. Oh, my precious baby girl. Upon delivery we found out she had a very tight knot in her umbilical cord and her cord was tightly wrapped around her neck three times. She was welcomed into our family with so much love. Her birth was an experience of extreme joy and extreme sorrow and I know the rest of our lives will be just that.

As we left the hospital in our deepest sorrow and emptiness it was the few things, mementos, pieces of her we clung to, the blankets she was wrapped in, the smell of her, the oils still present on them, the bracelets that were on her wrists, and tiny box filled with footprints, hand prints, and other mementos. How could this be I was leaving with these things and not a baby? At least we had these things to remember her.