Your stories shared

On the 14th Jan 2021 we were so excited for our follow up 21 week scan at the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital, however this feeling was utterly short lived as our lives came crashing down round us in an instant! I lay there waiting for the sonographer to check the three things they couldn’t get at the 20 week scan the week before. Our boy had been notoriously shy at previous scans. So I advised the sonographer of this. She knew it was... the kidneys, the heart & a profile of our boys face she needed to get. As per on cue.... “I just need to get my colleague to help me with this.” “I told you he was shy!” I responded!! Then the words were spoken..... “Jennifer, I’m so sorry!” As I was pregnant through COVID-19 my fiancé Brian was waiting downstairs for my call to say I was done... instead I was calling him wailing down the phone to ask him to come up. I think he took the stairs 3 at a time!! In a matter of 10 minutes.... we as parents experienced the real heartbreak and struggle of losing a child. We sat in dismay as my consultant explained to us that his little heartbeat had stopped, as you can imagine our lives were shattered. On 17th Jan 2021 I was admitted to the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital, Glasgow to deliver our perfectly amazing perfect little warrior boy. Odin was delivered and he was everything he was meant to be, he was truly perfect and he was our wee champion. As a couple we were able to spend such precious time with Odin in our Family Room. This room offered us the opportunity to spend cherished time with him and allowed us to prepare to say goodbye to him in a peaceful tranquil place. We were also gifted a SiMBA memory box to keep memories of our Odin in...... the box contained such lovely things including a beautifully knitted hat, blanket, teddy bears (one which stayed with us and one which stayed with Odin the whole time.... which were swapped over before we left hospital) and a beautiful candle. The nighttime midwife took prints of Odin’s hands and feet and also photos of his wee feet and hands holding the little butterflies which as you know are Simba’s logo!! We were treated by the PRM NHS Midwife Team with the utmost respect & dignity. We will forever be thankful to the team at the PRM and the Simba Charity for their love, care and support during our time of grief! Jenny and Brian

" Thank you all so much, the Memory Box and contents are lovely and I am so grateful. I think it’s amazing how you provide memory boxes and support for all baby loss, regardless of gestation. I admit that whilst I was in hospital I felt like I didn’t matter because I was below 24 weeks, but your support has made me realise that my baby and I do matter and my baby was a baby and deserves to be recognised as such." Thanks again, Emily

I just wanted to let you know how much your memory box helped us yesterday. I gave birth to a baby boy (Samuel Robert Lauder) at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport after carrying him for just 15 weeks. His heart was beating right to the end but unfortunately it just wasn’t meant to be. The doctor brought him in for me in a beautiful knitted basket covered over by a blanket and a tiny knitted white teddy next to him. That helped my husband and I so much to be able see him looking so cosy. The memory box with little keepsakes was also so very comforting. The whole experience was horrific, but this little act of kindness from your volunteers made the situation a little more bearable. I really hope you’ll be able to get a message of thanks to them all for the knitting they do for people like me who they don’t even know.

Little Roo Noel Galbraith born too early on the 13th October 2019. We as parents have experienced the real heartbreak and struggle of losing a child. On the 10th of October 2019 we were so excited for our 20 week scan in the Mater hospital, not knowing the gender but already having both names picked, we were called with excitement to get a look at our little person on the screen. However this feeling was extremely short lived as our lives came tumbling down round us as we soon learnt our precious little baby boy "Roo", was just too special for earth. We sat as excited first time parents and a doctor had to explain to us that his little heartbeat had stopped, as you can imagine our lives were shattered. A short time later on the 12th October I was admitted to the Royal Hospital in Belfast to deliver my wonderful amazing perfect little boy, the process started and I gave birth on the 13th October 2019. "Roo" was delivered and had everything he was meant to have, he was perfect and he was OURS. When the horrific time came to leave Roo, we as parents were both torn apart, we still are to some extent and always will be as we now have this massive hole in our lives. We have had the sleepless nights, the exhaustion, the confusion, the anger and numbness. Through all these negative emotions, we as parents have put a lot of thought and a lot of hope into giving something back to the charity who made the hardest, most gut wrenching time of our lives somewhat "easier" to cope and that's SiMBA. Due to your amazing charity we as parents left the hospital that day with our memory box; a memory box that has brought us so much happiness, contentment, love and hope. We hold onto this box for all its worth, and will treasure it until the day we both die. Our memory box sits pride of place in our house and we often read the little things inside, view photos, and hold little items that all bring back wonderful memories of our little boy.

As Leon's 1st birthday is just around the corner - and we cant celebrate the way we had planned........we're sending these cards in his name instead, as a part of his birthday celebrations to simply say THANK YOU. We will never forget your kindness and support when the unimaginative happened and we lost Leon at 5 days old. Thanks to YOU we are able to look at his photos and cherish the keepsakes that so many other parents don't have after losing their babies. Your love is incredible and we hope we will be able to return some of that kindness back one day. Forever grateful.

The Memory Box is a fantastic idea; it has brought so much comfort to Tracey & me after the stillbirth of our precious son Daniel Brian. The Memory Box is in our bedroom and at anytime we are able to look at the photos, footprints, lock of hair and other mementos of our son Daniel. This has helped us enormously to come to terms with our tragic loss and will continue to do so in the years to come

When I lost my little Jack in July 2015 I never got any photos of him. I was really scared while in labour as I lost him at 17 weeks and I had no idea how he would look or how developed he would be. I didn't know what to expect. However, I did ask to see him. He was so beautiful and perfect. I didn't even think about taking any photos, the midwife never mentioned it either. There was no mention of taking hand and footprints either. We were handed the memory box just as we were leaving the hospital, so didn't even know there was a little ink kit inside the box. I was devastated, I still am. I wouldn't like anyone else to feel the same so think it's really important that hospital staff know just how much it matters to parents. It's a lifetime of hurt, guilt and regrets as well as dealing with the grief.

Our twin’s hearts stopped around eight weeks, Simba helped so much by acknowledging then as babies who had died, we didn't get far in our journey with them, no happy scans, no kicks, no cuddles, having the memory box made them real, they existed and they are remembered for that I'll be forever grateful.

The memory box was the beginning of Richard and myself capturing those important memories of Baby Jack, it also meant as grieving parents we weren't leaving the hospital with empty arms but a important link to Jack.

We will always treasure Finlay’s Memory Box, his little hand and footprints, his blanket of love and our pictures of him. He will always be part of our lives, but thanks to SiMBA we have something tangible to remind ourselves of him, something we can look at, something we can touch.

Your charity made the short time with my little baby so precious and the beautiful box I went home with means the world to me. You made it possible for me to say goodbye to my baby properly. It was priceless.

Thank you so much for helping my sister, her husband, me and our family and all the other people who have lost their babies in this awful way by gifting the Memory Box.

It’s a month and a day since the tragic and unexpected stillbirth of our first son, Finlay. His heart was beating as he made his arrival. At 25 weeks, though, it was too early for him to survive. Our pregnancy was high risk, but just two hours earlier we could never have imagined or prepared ourselves for what would, suddenly, become the saddest moment of our lives. So many emotions – shock, confusion, devastation and disbelief – went through our minds that Sunday evening that it was impossible to take it all in or think straight. That is where SiMBA came in. We will always treasure Finlay’s Memory Box, his little hand and foot prints, his blanket of love and our pictures of him. He will always be part of our lives, but thanks to SiMBA we have something tangible to remind ourselves of him, something we can look at, something we can touch. We spent two nights in one of SiMBA’s family rooms, bonding with our son and spending invaluable time getting to know him. The information booklet has been very helpful and we look forward to adding a leaf for Finlay to SiMBA’s tree of tranquillity so that we can visit him from time to time. For all of this we will forever be grateful to the SiMBA team and to those whose donations, time and effort make it all possible. Instead of flowers for Finlay’s funeral, we asked friends and family to make a donation to SiMBA instead. We understand a total of £190 has been handed in and donated online. Please find enclosed another two cheques totalling £400. Kind regards

The following letter was received from the parents of a beautiful baby boy called Josh Best and this is the reason why the Memory Box appeal is so important. As discussed on the telephone, please find enclosed a cheque for £1000 which is to be donated to the Simpson’s Memory Box Appeal. This money was raised by friends and family following the loss of our baby boy, Josh, in September 2005. Following our loss the staff at Simpson’s were wonderful. Small things, like the Memory Box, helped make us feel that we were not alone. If this money eases the pain of other families who end up in a situation like ours, then it will have made a difference… Andy and Yvonne have generously shared their story and welcome you to read about Josh at: www.joshbest.blogspot.com

In November 2005 we discovered we were having identical twins. We found out in December they were boys, we were so excited, we already have a little girl, Evie, imagine another two little ones to run around, we couldn’t believe our luck, having twins is so very special, especially identical twins. We had to attend the twin’s clinic at Simpson’s for a weekly scan just to check on how things were progressing, we decided with the obstetrician that we would have the twins delivered by Cesarean section at 36 weeks. We went to the hospital for our scan at 35 weeks; we were so excited our boys would be here the following week. Very sadly our scan revealed that one of the boys had died. We had an emergency Ceserean section to deliver the boys, Hamish first then Jack. Hamish had got his cord wrapped around his neck; Jack was fine weighing in at a healthy 5lb 8oz. That time is all a bit of a blur, we don’t really remember very much. What we do remember is that the staff at the hospital were amazing. We had consistent midwifery care and it was one of the midwives who first introduced us to our Memory Box. We did not know at that time how valuable our little box would be to us, it has hand and footprints, photographs and a lock of hair of our darling little boy. We have also placed cards and poems people have given us as keep sakes within the box. We cannot thank the Simba Team enough for giving us this little precious box, it sits in our bedroom and we can see our little boy whenever we need to, it is there for our children and our family and friends, it is priceless. Losing a child is unimaginable; it is something no one should have to endure. We do not know what we would do if we didn’t have our Memory Box, thank you.