Run with the Docs 5k & 1 Miler

Thank you for contributing to our fundraiser to help other parents at Virtua through heartbreaking circumstances. We are fundraising as Team Robin, to honor the baby we lost in January.

Two days before we moved into our new house, Rachel and I (Ashley) learned that we were expecting. After a difficult few years fighting an impossible housing market searching for a space where we would have enough room to have our family, and consequently (and painfully) putting off having a baby, it felt like things were finally aligning at the same time. We moved into our house with the vision of how all the empty spaces would be filled: with baby toys and strollers and a nursery and newborn cries and joyful laughter. Moving into a new house and navigating the first trimester at the same time was difficult, but after some very physically difficult months of first trimester symptoms, we started to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking some of the hardest parts were behind us.

After a brief reprieve from those very difficult symptoms, Ashley started to experience some new ones that were concerning and were not on the normal list of second trimester ailments. We had a reassuring appointment that put our minds at ease, but then the symptoms got worse and became threatening to Ashley's health. So we were back at the OB for another ultrasound, and then referred to Maternal Fetal Medicine for a more detailed ultrasound and consult. That day, we received the news that would irreparably tear our hearts- that the amniotic fluid was too low to sustain the pregnancy due to placental abruption, and that we would be losing our baby.

Our saving grace through this time was that we had some amazing doctors through our OB office and that we got connected with Ann Coyle who leads the Perinatal Bereavement Program at Virtua. As we were faced with impossible circumstances and "choices" to navigate, we had Ann to help walk us through the harrowing logistics, like how to arrange a cremation (which was paid for by the program) and fill out a death certificate, no situation that any first-time parent is prepared for. The day of the procedure she met with us, giving us some comfort & reassurance, as well as a compiled list of resources and a care package donated by a fellow loss mom. Everyone we interacted with that day was so compassionate, thanks to the trainings Ann leads. Part of the Perinatal Bereavement Program is an angel garden to honor the babies that families have lost, but there is another angel at Virtua: Ann, who helps families get through some of the darkest days of their lives. We are heartbroken over our loss, but extremely grateful to have received care at a hospital where the extreme pain of this loss is recognized and held and given space.

Thank you again for supporting this much-needed program and helping us to honor our son and first baby, Robin Levi, who we mourn every day.