Just a few days before Alana died, we were celebrating her life at our baby shower. Three weeks later, we were at the front of the church crying next to a casket at her funeral. Planning a funeral for your child is not something you ever imagine having to do. I will be honest…it sucked. It was one of the hardest things my husband and I had to do. However, thanks to the gift of blood donation, I was alive to help with the planning and my husband was not left to plan my funeral, as well. One funeral was enough!

Deciding what to bury my daughter in was easy. I saw online that people made beautiful angel gowns from wedding dresses. Most moms dream of their daughter’s wearing their wedding dresses on their special day. Unfortunately, Alana will never have that opportunity, but at least she got to wear my dress! My very talented mom was able to make her this beautiful angel gown from my wedding dress. It was perfect. I wonder what outfit my husband would have chosen to bury me in if I had died? Thanks to generous blood donors (like you), he didn’t have to make that difficult decision.

When we had this photo taken, we had no idea it would be the last picture of our entire family alive. Just two days later, I suffered an acute total placental abruption that nearly took my life and, unfortunately, took the life of our baby girl – Alana Rose. Thanks to blood donation, I will be able to take more pictures with my husband and two boys. Donate today and help prevent other families from having their last family photos together.