2009 Annual Walk to Remember

As some of you may know, we are involved in Heartstrings Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Group. This wonderful organization offers group support, one-to-one support for those with similar losses through its Connections program, and online support. They also offer subsequent pregnancy support. All of their programs are available free to anyone who has lost a baby from conception to one year of age. In addition, they also provide education and communication to caregivers and professionals to help them better understand how pregnancy and infant loss affects families.

For those of you that do not know our story, we found out that we were pregnant with Ava 11/8/07. We were ecstatic when we found out that we were going to have Ally a little " Sissy" and couldn't wait for her arrival. The nursery was absolutely beautiful and I couldn't wait to rock Ava to sleep in her new home. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I had several signs of labor and every time something would kick in, I would go to the doctor's office to be sent home stating everything was fine. The Friday night before we delivered Ava, my contractions came every 3-5 minutes. We went to L&D and were told that my contractions were actually sporadic and were 1-5 minutes apart. I was fine and the baby was fine so they sent me home. Sunday night I was reading a book and Ava was moving around and kicking so much that I couldn't even concentrate. I didn't think much about it, I just rubbed my growing belly and went to bed. Monday, I went to work and by 10:30 or so I realized that I hadn't felt her move. I called the doctor and they told me to drink a Mt Dew and to call them back if I still hadn't felt her move. After I drank the Mt Dew I could have sworn that I felt her move so I didn't think anything else about it. Tuesday morning I woke up when my husband was getting ready to leave for work and I told him that I was going to go back to the doctor to see what was going on. He said okay and to call him after I got out. Well little did I know what was about to happen. I went into the doctor and the nurse went to hook me up to the NST and there was no sound at all. There was no sound of the placenta and no heartbeat. The nurse didn't panic, but I did and I knew something had gone wrong. The nurse took me to get an ultrasound and that is when my nightmare was confirmed. My Ava had passed and I was all alone in this cold doctor's office with no one. Just me and my baby. They called Johnathon to meet me there and we cried together for a long time. The thought of delivering Ava hadn't even crossed my mind until they said that they would induce me that day. The walk from the parking deck to the hospital was the longest in my life. There was a car seat and a diaper bag in the back ready to be used and that would never happen. Ava Morgan Finney was born at 2:17am on July 16, 2008. She was 9lbs 22 in long and perfect. I held her all night and just told her how much I loved her. I memorized every detail of her body so I would never forget how beautiful she was. Ava's death was listed as an unexplained stillbirth so we do not have an actual cause.

When we lost Ava, Heartstrings provided validation for our loss and came alongside us in our grief. On October 10, 2009, we will have the opportunity to walk in Heartstrings Fifth Annual A Walk to Remember to honor our daughter that grew her wings too soon. We are asking you to support us as we walk for Ava and help to provide funding for Heartstrings to reach out to other families in their time of need. In doing so, you will pass along the hope and love that we received at such a desperate time in our lives,

Please send your donations to us at 1986 Union Cross Road, Winston-Salem, NC (Or you can give to me directly) and we will present them to Heartstrings in honor of Ava on the day of the Walk. You can make checks payable to Heartstrings Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support with Ava Morgan Finney on the memo line.

Thank you for remembering our family and honoring our little girl.