Ellie's Story

You may be wondering how Ellie's Critter Corral got its name. In June of 2020 my husband, Ben and I found out we were expecting our first child. We were over the moon with excitement and could not wait to meet our newest addition. At the 20 week morphology scan we found out the gender (which was a precious baby girl) and also were informed our sweet baby girl had a very severe congenital heart defect. We were referred to multiple specialists in St. Louis where our hearts were shattered as we received devastating news with each visit. At 31 weeks we were told Ellie's heart condition was so severe that it could cause myself to develop "mirror syndrome." Mirror syndrome can cause severe pregnancy complications and even heart failure to the mother. Knowing this the doctors highly recommended I be admitted to the hospital and induced that same day. Ben and I were in complete shock. We decided to drive home from St. Louis to gather our thoughts and pack our things for the hospital stay and return the following morning for induction. Around 3am I woke up feeling incredibly sick so we headed back to St. Louis to be admitted and induced. The doctors told us it was possible that Ellie's heart would not be strong enough to keep beating until delivery, but we never gave up hope. Unfortunately, a few hours before our sweet Ellie was born the doctor informed us there was no longer a heartbeat. Those words were the hardest words to hear. Our hearts shattered into a million pieces, nothing can ever prepare a parent for that kind of pain. After a long 26 hours of labor our beautiful Angel was born sleeping. On December 2nd, 2020 Heaven gained a new Angel and Ben and I were blessed with our perfect guardian Angel. We will never understand why these things happen and the pain will never go away, but we find comfort knowing our baby girl is with Jesus. In June 2022 Ben and I were blessed with our rainbow baby who will learn all about her big sister when she is a little older. 

I know this is a long post and thank you if you took the time to read it. I hope I can honor Ellie and make her proud  in everything I do. Ellie's Critter Corral is just starting out, but my hope/goal is to donate a percentage of its profits to the fetal heart center to help other families going through this. 

I appreciate all your support and prayers and can't wait to meet you and your furry family member(s)!