When Millie Smith and Lewis Cann learned they would soon become parents, they were ecstatic. Given the abundance of twins in their family, Millie’s sense told her that she was actually carrying two kids, and her mother’s intuition was right.
She was certainly having twins, as the ultrasound revealed, but the doctors knew from the start that one of the kids didn’t have much chance of surviving.
They were informed that one of their daughters, born at thirty weeks pregnant, had anencephaly, a fatal disorder characterized by improper development of the fetal neurological system, or the brain and spinal cord.
They also learned that their little happiness would only have a few minutes or hours to survive.
Her parents wanted to name her before they could say their last goodbyes, knowing this. Skye was their choice of name.
“We were aware that Skye required a name prior to her birth,” Millie remarked.”I wanted her to be named in the few seconds or minutes that she would live, knowing that.”
“Skye meant somewhere we knew she would always be, that we could look up at the sky and remember our baby,” the speaker clarified.
“Skye died while we were holding her. This was the darkest moment in our life. I’ve never experienced heartbreak quite like that. However, I am honored that she persevered for such a long period to be with us.
Skye’s parents relished her presence and admired her beauty during the brief three hours of her life.
To help them deal with the loss, the couple was given access to a “bereavement midwife” and a “Daisy Room,” which is a place where parents may spend time with their newborn both before and after death.
But after the girl left, nobody spoke of her anymore. It infuriated Millie to feel as though her baby had never existed at all.
The majority of the nurses knew what had happened, but as time went on, nobody spoke about Skye. The bereaved mother stated that after roughly four weeks, “everyone acted as though nothing had happened, meaning the families around me had no idea about our situation.”
Unaware of Millie’s loss, a mother who had recently given birth to twins on her own complimented her on her lack of twins while Callie, her second child, remained in the NICU.
“The other parents were unaware of Skye’s situation or anything that had occurred to her. The remark was more lighthearted and entirely innocent.They were not to be aware that I had two at one time.Millie went on, “But I almost broke from the comment.” They had no idea why I had sobbed as I hurried out of the room. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them what had transpired. That whole thing could have been prevented with only a sticker.
This is when Millie came up with the idea of putting a sticker on the incubator indicating the loss of one or more babies in a set of multiples.
“I chose butterflies, as I felt it was fitting to remember the babies that flew away, the color purple because it is suitable for both boys or girls,” she explained.
Today, her initiative has grown into a foundation, The Skye High Foundation, that supports the purple butterfly initiative. So far, it helped spread the idea to hospitals in many different nations.
There are many different gifts and accessories available in the purple butterfly goods.
“In the end, I won’t be able to stop this from happening, but it will be better if we can establish more support groups and implement measures like the stickers. It’s the most difficult thing for anyone to handle, Millie remarked.
Callie, her other daughter, is seven years old today.
Please use Facebook to SHARE this post with your loved ones.
