Paige Ashlee

My story

Me and my sister Chelsea decided to walk 100km in March for the Sands charity this year. Not many people know but early 2024 we were surprised with the wonderful news we were adding another addition to our family, after we had our 12 week scan where we got to see our sweet little baby, we told our children and family and were so excited for this new chapter and future. Other than the usual pregnancy symptoms of some sickness, everything was going well. At 15 weeks I went in for an appointment where I got to hear baby’s heartbeat. 

Just one week later I went for my 16 week midwife appointment, I laid on the bed excited to listen to baby’s heartbeat again, the midwife put the doppler on my belly and was moving around but couldn’t find the heartbeat, the midwife said we would do the rest of the appointment then try again. I laid back on the bed and again the midwife tried to use the doppler, she tried for a little longer this time but she still couldn’t find a heartbeat and said I would need to go to the hospital for them to check. Sometimes at 16 weeks it can be a little harder to find the heartbeat but this had never happened in my previous pregnancies and I was worried. 

I went to the hospital where they was expecting me, I got taken into a side room where another midwife tried again to find baby’s heartbeat with no success. After this a Doctor came in to do an ultrasound, the Doctor said they are not able to locate a heartbeat but had to have another Doctor check, the final doctor came in and done a final ultrasound where they confirmed to me the baby had no heartbeat. I was absolutely devastated, my children were outside with another midwife and I was alone as we had just expected it to be a routine appointment. 

I was then faced with a lot of information and decisions and everything moved very quickly, I gave birth to my son Jesse Jones on the 04th of April 2024, he was so tiny and precious and beautiful. We had an amazing bereavement midwife who supported us through the process. Sands provide memory boxes for those who have lost a baby, these memory boxes are so precious, with handmade gifts that mean so much, cards for hand and foot prints, little hand crafted teddies, Jesse could not stay with us the whole time we were in the hospital, so we left one of the teddies with him whilst we had the other and then when we left him for the last time we swapped these over, there was so many other special personal items. 

The loss was very difficult for my children as they were so excited, this memory box has given them and us an opportunity to have something special to remember our little baby boy, little mementos that mean so very much in such a dark time. Just £20 can provide a memory box for bereaved parents.

Sands provides support for bereaved families, training for healthcare professionals, research and so much more, the more awareness and donations received  is so important as unfortunately this does affect so many people.

In memory of our precious angel baby Jesse Jones 🪽🤍

We didn’t get to experience what life would have been like with you and you was only with us for a short time but you had such a huge impact on our lives and we will remember you always 🤍

In November 2024 we got the amazing news that I was pregnant again, sadly in January 2025 during my second trimester I experienced another heartbreaking loss. The loss of a baby is devastating and having the support available from an organisation like Sands is invaluable during such a difficult time.