Still Held is a non profit that was birthed out of lived experience. After more than ten years of infertility, tests, treatments and unanswered prayers, my husband and I were overjoyed to conceive naturally — our miracle girl, Talitha. Everything in my pregnancy seemed perfect until, at 18 weeks, my water suddenly broke. For three long days, I prayed and hoped that labor wouldn’t begin — but on the third day, our daughter was born. She was alive when she entered the world, and we held her as she took her first and last breaths. We christened her with our tears and said the hardest, most painful goodbye we have ever said.

Those moments — holding her, loving her, saying goodbye — changed us forever. I left the hospital with empty arms, heartbroken and hollow, knowing I would ever be the same. Grief consumed me in ways I never imagined, but it also reshaped me.

Ten months later, I became pregnant again. My rainbow baby was born safely after a long, anxious pregnancy — a living reminder that hope can coexist with grief. Then, in the summer of 2025, we lost another baby at 11 weeks. Hearing “there’s no heartbeat” broke me all over again. I thought we’d already walked through our share of loss. I never imagined we’d be here once more - right back in the sorrow of baby loss.

Each of these experiences carved new depths in me — of pain, yes, but also of compassion. I know what it is to long, to lose, to hope again, and to wonder how to breathe through the ache. I know what it is to love and miss a baby that will leave your family forever incomplete.

That’s why I started Still Held — a place for others walking through pregnancy and infant loss to find the gentle support, community, and rest I longed for in my own grief. A place to remember, to feel less alone, and to know that even in loss, you are still held.

Grief has led me to a community I never expected but am endlessly grateful for. If you’re navigating loss too, I’m always open to connect.