Welcome to Courtney's Story

Courtney Marie is our little angel, and this blog is her story.

We are Phillip and Kirsten.  In July 2010 we found out we were expecting our first child, after 15 years of trying, hoping and praying. God was finally blessing us with the opportunity to be parents and we could not have been more thrilled.

The pregnancy with Courtney was uneventful. Morning sickness, aches and pains, and other normal symptoms were our way of life for 6 months. We were starting to set up a nursery for our little peanut (our nickname from the first day we found out we were expecting)- we bought a crib and dresser, ordered a glider,and were starting to purchase some clothes. Daddy had even bought Courtney her first camouflage!

On the morning of November 22 I felt Courtney moving, as she normally would while I sat at my desk checking e-mails, getting ready for a short week of work with the Thanksgiving holiday. Sitting on the couch that night she didn't move, which was unusual, as that was normally when she was most active. By the next morning, November 23,  I knew something wasn't right. I called the doctor's office and they asked us to go in right away so they could check her out. That was when we learned the devastating news... Courtney wasn't moving and there was no heartbeat. We were 26 weeks pregnant.

We were admitted to the hospital for induction, and Courtney was born the following day, November 24.  She had a blood clot in her umbilical cord.  We were able to spend 6 1/2 of the most precious hours with her in the hospital, taking pictures, memorizing her face, and trying to figure out how to say "goodbye" when we had not had the chance to say "hello".

This is just the beginning of the story of our little peanut. In the following posts we will share pieces of Courtney's story, and how she has changed our lives forever.

Thanks be to God for our little peanut, Miss Courtney Marie!  We love and miss you very much!