My first daughter, her name is Emma, was stillborn on May 28, 2011
Dr. Casey Boyce
They had a totally uncomplicated pregnancy with their first one and then at her due date when she went in for a normal appointment they found their first daughter Emma had passed away.
Virginia Gimenez
When I delivered Emma one of the things my doctor at that time wanted us to do was make sure we had appropriate support afterward so they provided a list of resources available in the area that help parents of buried children. One of the resources available was the HEAL program at Atrium Medical Center that is lead by Sheree Young.
It was two months after Emma died in June, 2011 that I first went to the parent group and met Sheree in person. She was absolutely amazing.
Sheree Young
Virginia had this strong need that she needed to share Emma’s story with folks who had been through this very same thing.
Virginia Gimenez
If your child is alive, you want your child to matter, right? You want their life to matter. When they died in life so early, that becomes your goal in life . . to make sure their life mattered and they are remembered.
Sheree Young
Those little babies are real. Because someone didn’t meet them personally or because they didn’t have years of exposure to them at every holiday and family event doesn’t mean to these parents that they are not the most important things in the world . . . they are. Because they died doesn’t change that and our motto is “they lived before they ever died.” So, focus on the life; share them with other people in whatever way you can do that. I think that’s always troublesome. In subsequent pregnancies in the event of the death of a child takes on such a burden for families for a lot of reasons.
Virginia Gimenez
I didn’t want anyone to think we were replacing her.
It really was a no brainer for us. The choice to go to Atrium was very clear. I had learned a lot more about the hospital, the facilities and care they provided. But truly, what really sold it for me was that because of the HEAL program I knew the kind of care they provided, how much they care for their patients.
Sheree Young
This is such a troubling time for parents while everybody in the rest of the world says ‘oh you’re pregnant, things are going well’, every morning parents who have had a child die wake up and say ‘is something going to happen to this baby today’.
Dr. Boyce
When you have had a pregnancy with a bad outcome in the past, no matter what it is, you are going to have extra anxiety with the next pregnancy. Every patient is different in how we the physician can help you but number one is keep the communication line open.
Virginia Gimenez
I was referred to Dr. Boyce by several people so I went in to see her. Right away I felt very comfortable with her. I really liked her because she asked about Emma. She wanted to know about her and what happened. She made me feel very comfortable.
Dr. Boyce
From the beginning I wanted to help her through this and help give her the best outcome of a beautiful healthy baby that she could take home and love.
Virginia Gimenez
She knew how I felt and she knew what my concerns were. She was so vested on making sure everything was okay with the extra care they took and all the things they did. She took extra steps such as giving me her personal cell phone number if I ever needed to call her. I mean, doctors don’t do that; that’s amazing!
Dr. Boyce
I wanted Virginia to be comfortable to call someone if she needed them because she wasn’t seeing everyone in the group like we recommend most patients do. We were really going to try to coordinate this delivery so she would be delivered by me or Dr. Reina, someone she knew and was comfortable with to make her delivery, which was going to be extra stressful, better for her.
Sheree Young
There is nothing like that little cry of these babies when they’re born alive and healthy. And to know parents have endured the worst and are now enjoying this wonderful, healthy new baby, like Isabella.
Dr. Boyce
I knew this was going to be a really hard and difficult event and very different from her first experience and then very happy once the baby came out and was healthy. It is one of my most memorable deliveries. As soon as the baby came out there were tears of joy everywhere and much hugging and much relief.
Virginia Gimenez
This is Isabella. She is my second daughter and she was born at Atrium Medical Center. We are so grateful they did everything they did to ensure she arrived safely and healthy. She’s beautiful baby girl and we just absolutely crazy in love with her.
