Our Stories

Elora Jane

Alex and I were always set on having two children, we had a son and daughter and were so content. We both love children and have always had so much love to give, so we decided our little family didn’t feel complete.

We were so lucky to be able to fall pregnant extremely quickly with our beautiful girl Elora. We were ecstatic and we agreed to keep her gender a surprise, unlike her brother Fletcher and her sister Stella.

On the Friday the 18th of August, I was booked in for a growth scan at 32 weeks and 4 days. All was perfect and in my obstetricians words my scan was ‘lovely’.

I was advised by the ultrasound technician that I may feel a little less movement because of the way Elora was facing and where the placenta was positioned. There was no overt cause for concern. I wish I never listened to those words.

We decided that it would be good for all of us to get away for a weekend. After my scan, we packed the car and headed down the south coast. We just wanted to take some time away to spend time as a family of four before Elora entered the world.

Towards the late afternoon on Saturday the 19th of August, i started becoming a bit concerned about movement. I wasn’t feeling Elora move as much as normal, despite having some extra sugar as we were laying in bed. To our relief, Elora responded and we both were able to feel some stronger movements.

The next day, not even 36 hours after my scan. My intuition was telling me something wasn’t right. We made the decision to leave Kiama and get home as quickly as possible. Upon returning home, i went straight to hospital for monitoring whilst Alex stayed home with the kids. We didn’t know it at the time, but this was the day that all our lives were going to change dramatically and irreversibly.

The nurses and OB were not happy with the CTG. They called Alex and told him that he needed to come in to support me. Our wonderful OB felt that it was best to get Elora out as soon as possible. This couldn’t be done at our local private hospital being under 34 weeks, so an ambulance was organised for us to be taken to Royal Woman’s Hospital. They prepped me for an emergency c section as much as they could, with Alex following close behind.

We reached the Royal and were taken upstairs into a birthing suite. There was a NICU bed prepared for Elora in special care, and a scan was performed to check Elora’s position.

Alex arrived not long after and unfortunately, it was at this time that we were delivered the most devastating and heartbreaking news of all – somewhere, something had decided that Elora was not meant to join us. The doctor with tears in her eyes, told me the words no body ever wants to hear. “ I’m so sorry, but there is no heart beat, your babies heart has stopped beating”. Our daughter had passed away during the ambulance transfer.

There are no words to describe how we felt at this time, as well as the hours that followed. It is a moment that will stay with us forever. Our beautiful, precious little baby had been cruelly taken away from us - without warning, without explanation, without a proper chance to be adored, cared for, loved, and treasured by all.

All we wanted was to rewind time and bring back our beautiful little baby. At a scan later that day, it was revealed that Elora was a girl, we then decided on her name Elora Jane. Her name meaning ‘ Sun Ray’

We were sent home, to return two days later to start the induction process. Having had two c sections prior, I was at high risk of uterine rupture so we had to tread very carefully. After a successful birth after two c sections, Elora Jane Keith entered the world at 1:05am on the 23rd of August 2023, at 33 weeks gestation. We were in such awe of our beautiful girl. We were so sad, so angry, so confused at the same time, however completely smitten by our beautiful girl.

We are so grateful for the love and care we received from our two wonderful midwifes and our social worker at the Royal Woman’s. If it wasn’t for them, I really don’t think we would have been able to get through anything. We felt so well cared for, and they made us feel so safe.

We spent the next 36 hours loving Elora, cuddling her, kissing her, remembering all of her beautiful petite features. Our families were able to come and meet Elora and Stella and Fletcher were able to come in and meet their baby sister who they had been so excited to welcome into our family.

Eloras autopsy results came through surprisingly quickly, we were made aware that she passed from a placental insufficiency that was missed in her growth scan only a few days earlier. We then went on to find out that placental issues make up for majority of stillbirths which shocked us.

Although it has only been almost 8 weeks since Elora has gained her wings, we find so much comfort in sharing her story, saying her name and remembering her everyday. We miss her so much and are trying our hardest to navigate this horrific journey as a family. We will never take for granted our precious time together, no matter how short it was.

@melissakeithh