Little Lilly Rose

We're still in such shock and I think we will be for a very long time. But in a lot of ways we're very lucky to have each other and the love and support of all of our friends, family and our church.

Lilly Rose lived exactly 40 weeks until her due date. In the end, her umbilical cord got tangled around her little neck as she was making her final move to get ready for her grand entrance. It was a terrible and horrible accident and one from which we will never recover.

At 2:30 p.m. Thursday we were at the doctor for our weekly visit and heard her strong little heart beat. The doctor reassured us that she was a perfect size and that she would be born within the week. Sadly, less than 12 hours later she was gone. Jennifer noticed that she wasn't kicking at her usual times and we went into the hospital to check things out, knowing for sure that we were overreacting with first-time parent jitters. We weren't. By the time we got to the hospital, she was already gone.

Jennifer had to go through the long, heartbreaking process of birthing a baby that we knew was already gone into God's arms. She was in labor for 26 hours and had a difficult delivery. But in the end, we were able to hold our beautiful baby girl for awhile. She was 7 pounds, 6 ounces and 20 inches long. She had Brent's lips and Jennifer's nose and she was already loved by so many people.

We've been overwhelmed by the love that has surrounded us during this time. And we're more grateful than you'll ever know. We're slowly starting the healing process. For Jennifer that is physical as well as emotional, but we're doing it together and with God's help, the way we do everything.

Right now, we're concentrating on Lilly Rose's memorial service tomorrow. After that, we'll leave town for awhile to try to heal away from this place that feels so empty without her little cries. We'll continue to stay in contact, but we need to be away from here for awhile.