This August I'm taking a Leap of Love for Sands.

As many of you know, in March 2021 we lost our little Ruben at 16weeks. 

August 27th 2021 was his due date so what better way to spend the day, than up in the sky with him, on what would have been his 1st birthday.  

OUR STORY
I found out I was pregnant in December 2020 (the pregnancy was a shock as due to having an ablation previously, it was statistically impossible for me to get pregnant let alone carry a baby) 
my consultant was great though (an early scan showed everything was OK and we started to allow ourselves to get a little excited)
Medical staff were really open with us about the risks and took extra precautions by means of a diagnostic scan, this scan showed I may have a bicornate womb so I was brought in as an inpatient and an mri was requested..
After a few days of nobody quite knowing exactly what they were looking at they called a top specialist in to report on the images. This led to a multi team meeting where it was found that I had an intramural pregnancy where the baby was growing inside the muscle of my womb with the placenta protruding through my womb and having attached itself to my bladder.
I was given the option of continuing the pregnancy but their prognosis was that there was a high (80%) chance of fatality for myself as well as baby.
I was already suffering a lot of pain so there really was no choice.
I was rushed to theatre where they performed a laproscopic total hysterectomy as well as a vaginal birth.
On Friday 12th March 2021 Ruben Riley was born breathing for a few precious seconds. 

I would have been 16weeks and because baby was born alive, we are able to hold a funeral service.

Although Rubens birth wasnt registered with been less than 24weeks his death still was.

During all this I had countless amounts of contact with Sands local support groups. Via chats, emails and post. We recieved an absolutely gorgeous memory box with lots of amazing items to help us not only cope with our loss but, even now, a year later, to look at and smile. 

The comfort this box and Sands support groups gave us (in fact they still are in regular contact via emails and groups) was amazing. I honestly don't know where we would have been without them. 

So upon mentioning that id love to do another skydive, it seemed only fitting that I do it to raise money for a charity that will forever be close to our hearts. 

Any amount small or large will help this charity so much.

All money raised will go towards Sands' core aims. We help to support bereaved families and save babies lives. Because of our fundraisers, vital research can continue in helping to reduce the number of babies dying each day.

This is what donations mean to Sands:

£20 enables Sands to provide a memory box to parents so they can start making memories with their baby 

£140 provides one full day of bereavement care training for healthcare professionals

 £580 a day keeps our helpline open and free for every caller

£840 can sponsor an entire day of training for 20 midwives!

 £1,500 is needed on average to run one local support group for a year