On Saturday 15th May I will be getting the lengths of my hair chopped quite dramatically, going from almost 20" long to a short bob above my shoulders! I'm doing this for two reasons, to donate my hair to 'Little Princess Trust' and to raise funds for 'Tommy's the baby charity', in Henry's name to mark the third anniversary of the day we laid him to rest.

We began our fundraising journey, donating to baby loss charities, on the day of Henry's funeral. It seems quite fitting to begin this fundraiser today, on the third anniversary of that day. 

Tommy's the baby charity

I have chosen to raise funds for Tommy's not only because of the vital research that they do to help to save babies' lives, but also in thanks for the help and support that they gave us in bringing home our rainbow baby, Eliza. 

Upon finding out we were pregnant again in 2019, we knew that we wanted the support of the Tommy's Rainbow Clinic. They offered us extra scans with specialised equipment, a specialist consultant who is highly experienced in preventing stillbirth and cared for our family with compassion whilst always ensuring we understood what was happening with our baby. Throughout the pregnancy, alongside our wonderful antenatal care at home, we travelled to Manchester multiple times for scans, monitoring and appointments with our consultant. This gave us peace of mind that our rainbow was healthy and that if any issues were to occur, they would be spotted soon enough to act on. Each time we left the clinic, I felt safe in the knowledge that we were doing all that we could to ensure the safe arrival of our baby girl. 

On the 27th January 2020 our rainbow arrived safe and well, we welcomed our daughter, Eliza Florence, into the world.

"We're working to make the UK the safest place in the world to give birth, supported by people who refuse to accept that a baby's death is just 'one of those things'. The people who support us want to do something about the lack of research and information around pregnancy issues. Like us, they believe every parent has the right to a healthy pregnancy and baby." (Taken from the 'About us' page on the Tommy's website)

Please give what you can can, every penny goes towards preventing another life lost, providing answers to grieving parents and giving hope when a rainbow is on the horizon.

1 in 4 pregnancies end in loss. This is not ok, it must stop! Please share this page, donate what you can and talk about it. The only way to make a change is for us to join together to fight, for Henry, for all babies gone too soon, and for future babies' whose lives need saving.

Little Princess Trust

My hair donation will go to 'Little Princess Trust' and be made into a wig for a young person living with cancer. 

Little Princess Trust began after, Hannah lost her hair due to a Wilms tumour and her parents could see how traumatic she found the experience...
"Since then, we have provided thousands of real hair wigs to sick children and young people, aged up to 24 years across the UK and Ireland. We are now in the early stages of offering our service in other areas of Europe and beyond." (Taken from the 'our story' page on their website).

I have always wanted to donate my hair to a cause like this and now I have the opportunity, (thank you pregnancy/lockdown hair growth) I hope that my plaits will make someone very happy!

Henry's Story

After a long time trying to become pregnant, we were blessed with the best news of our lives on the 1st of August 2017, we were having a baby! From that day forward we were parents, and loved and cherished the little life that we had made. We spent the pregnancy planning and organising for, and most importantly loving, the son that was on his way. 

At full term (38+2), and following a healthy pregnancy, on the 20th March 2018 we found out that our son Henry's heart had stopped beating and that we would never see him open his eyes or hear him cry. This is the worst news that any parents could hear, it stopped our world from turning and left our hearts broken. It then came as a huge shock that we then had to go home and wait for labour to begin before Henry could be birthed into this world.

Three days later (38+5), after so many tears, in the early hours of the morning on 23rd March 2018, Henry was born. To experience Henry's birth brought so much joy, it was still the best day of our lives but also the hardest, we got to meet our son, who we had dreamed of for so long. He was and always will be our perfect little baby boy, with soft palms, tiny toes and a little button nose. We spent 4 days, the shortest 4 days there have ever been, with Henry in the hospital and made some beautiful memories. We sang to him, read him stories, held him close, kissed him and noticed each and every tiny detail, committing them to memory so that he would always live on in our hearts and minds. This time was just not enough, and finally we had to leave the hospital, with a box full of memories instead of our baby boy. From then on we have carried Henry in our hearts and not in our arms, and the love that we share will last for always.

Thank you so much for reading.

 Sophie x-x-x

(Proud Mummy of Henry James, 23.03.2018 and Eliza Florence 27.01.2020)

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