No one told me that stillbirth was possible.

I lost my daughter at 38 weeks.

Her name is Ella Michael Schoetzow. She was born on February 29, 2014. She was beautiful and I miss her.

I had a fairly normal pregnancy. No one told me that stillbirth was possible. I had only heard of stillbirth with people who used drugs or alcohol. I took such good care of my daughter while pregnant. I still have no idea why she passed.

Her passing has changed me forever and shook me to my core.

I have guilt, lots and lots of it. Guilt that my son, who was born 3 months ago survived and Ella did not.

I miss her so much and have much guilt over missing her and worrying/thinking it takes away from my relationship with my son. I have tried to reach out to several avenues to advocate for people to talk about stillbirth.

My local news ran a story on my family on baby loss awareness day. I also reached out to my state senators to advocate for a change in Indiana laws about how data is collected about couples that experience stillbirth. They are still "getting back to me."

It's been close to a year. Our stories need to be told. Thank you for doing that!