This is the story of our beautiful daughter P and the mark her little footprints will leave on this world. In 2022 we were delighted to fall pregnant after several rounds of IVF. We saw our beautiful girls heartbeat at 7 weeks and started to dream about our future with her. (Though at the stage we didn't know the gender). P was measuring small at the 12 week scan but this was our first pregnancy, the hospital didn't seem concerned so neither were we. Our world started to come crumbling down when at 18 weeks when we were told that we were being referred to fetal medicine. Our darling P was measuring dangerously small. We were thrown into a horrible reality where we knew the chances of a happy ending were slim. We were given all our options, including the option to end our pregnancy which for us was never an option. We were always going to give P every chance and hope she made it.
For us though this isn't a story with a happy ending. For us each milestone was making it to the next scan which in our case was weekly, and our final scan was a scan that will haunt us forever. The day we heard the words "I am so sorry" but those words were not necessary... we knew the second we saw the screen. The following hours are a blur, the brilliant staff talking us through what would happen next. We went home for the night before being admitted to hospital to be induced and meet our daughter in a way no parent should, silently in a birthing suite. Our beautiful P arrived on 12th September 2021. Perfect but so so tiny. We spent several days in hospital partly because we were in no way rushed out, and were in a hospital that had the facilities and equipment to mean we could spent time with P, and partly because blood pressure issues meant very very close monitoring and an awful lot of blood tests.
Going home was not easy, how do you even contemplate your own child's funeral? Even now that seems like a parallel universe.
In the months that followed we very much lived in our bubble, a world where we could cry whenever and just be with each other but we fairly quickly channelled our sadness into what we hope will be P's legacy. For us we needed a purpose, something for her and something that forced us out of our comfort zone both physically and otherwise. We decided immediately that her perfect little feet will absolutely make a footprint on this world.. but through us. We decided to fundraise, to help a wonderful charity 4Louis who gave us the gift of time, they funded the cuddlecot that gave us 2 days with our daughter, and they, like many charities, desperately need help. There is a waiting list of hospitals needing the specialist equipment that we are so grateful for and we want so much to help clear that list. We will therefore be completing an epic run across the country over 5 days, a mere 274km.. back to back ultra marathons. A crazy feat for some very casual runners! But we know will be possible as P will be with us every step of the way. All of it will be for her.
Follow our journey at www.thewayoftheroseschallenge.co.uk or find us on social media @the_way_of_the_roses
