When a family suffers from a miscarriage, it isn't always just Mom and Dad who feel the loss. For little ones who have dreamed of becoming a big brother or sister, the devastating news can hit them just as hard. This is why when Kelsey Davis miscarried multiple times, breaking the news to her daughter, Brooke, was one of the hardest things she's had to do.
Kelsey had three miscarriages while trying to make Brooke a big sister.
When Brooke was 3 years old, Kelsey found out that she was pregnant and surprised her daughter with an ultrasound picture explaining that she was officially going to be a big sister. "I curled her hair, put some lip gloss on her, a pretty dress, and we went to a big field of grass nearby where I snapped some pictures of her holding a chalkboard that read, 'I'm going to be a big sister!'" she told Love What Matters. "We posted the pictures on Facebook and told all of our family. We were all so ecstatic!"
However, just a few weeks later, Kelsey suffered her first miscarriage and had to break the unthinkable news to her little girl. "Brooke was absolutely heartbroken. She cried so hard and didn’t understand why," she said. "As her mom, I told her that God decided to keep the baby with him and that the baby was too precious for earth. That seemed to help her find comfort in the loss."
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Over the next four years, Kelsey had an additional two miscarriages, but she and Brooke's dad, Stefan, decided not to tell her about these pregnancies in order to protect her. In 2015, Kelsey found out that she was pregnant yet again and this time, Ellie was born in January 2016 with her proud big sister watching.
When Kelsey found out that she was pregnant with another girl, Brooke asked to be in the delivery room.
Kelsey was thrilled to find out that she was expecting baby number three in 2017. However, she was still nervous, given her history. "Having miscarriages like that, recurrent miscarriages — so three or more back to back — occurs in about 1 percent of women, so when it kept happening, it was very scary," she tells CafeMom. "We didn't know what to expect with either of the girls' pregnancies."
She waited until she was 10 weeks before sharing the news with Brooke, just to play it safe. Toward the end of Kelsey's pregnancy, Brooke, who was now 8, asked if she could witness baby Summer's delivery, but Mom had a better idea: to let her be the one to cut the umbilical cord! "She liked the idea, and at my next appointment I brought it up to my midwife," Kelsey told Love What Matters. "She said Brooke could even help deliver and catch the baby! The smile that drew up on Brooke's face was pure excitement!"
Kelsey prepped Brooke for what she would see and feel, but nobody was prepared for her reaction.
After her due date came and went, Kelsey was induced and Brooke was prepared for the blood she would see and feel. "I labored for 36 hours from start to finish. Brooke helped me so much!" Kelsey revealed to Love What Matters. "She massaged my feet, would rub my head, we danced together to the beat of the baby's heartbeat in the monitor … We had fun and she was so helpful and sweet the entire time."
When it came time for Kelsey to push, nobody was more ready than Brooke.
As baby Summer was crowning, Brooke touched her head and couldn't help but giggle. "Brooke stood next to her dad by my feet, watching in pure happiness and amazement! You can see the overwhelming love in her face," Kelsey continued. "The midwife and nurses were telling Brooke just how brave she was for doing this. I pushed two times and the baby's head popped out. Brooke prepared by putting her hands with her dad's to help catch her newest baby sister, and about one minute after her head came out, so did her sweet little body. Brooke melted!"
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Brooke broke down in tears when they officially placed Summer on Mom's chest.
"I asked her if she was okay and she stumbled through tears when she said, ‘Yes! She's just so perfect!'" she added. "And she was — this all was. Our family was right where we all should have been."
Brooke now says she knows what she wants to be when she grows up: a midwife.
When Kelsey asked Brooke if she enjoyed witnessing her sisters' births, the wise child told her, "I think it made all three of us (her and her two sisters) have a very close bond. I learned how to help expel the placenta from the abdomen and I also realized when I grow up I want to be a midwife."
As Kelsey told Love What Matters: "At 8 years old, Brooke shows her strength, her love, and her wisdom that is well beyond her years. As a big sister, she will always hold being at both of her sisters' births close to her heart. And as her mother, I'm proud to call her my daughter."
