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PALMYRA, MO. -- Take a good look at Savanah Marie Herold. See her little fuzz of blond hair, her little fist clutched in the classic pose of a newborn. Imagine Savanah’s mother, cuddling this five-day-old bundle of joy, her sisters’ delight, her father’s protective gaze.

Take a good look at Savanah Marie, because that’s the last you’ll ever see of her. The day after this picture was snapped, Savanah Marie died.

Angela Miles Herold and her husband Ryan brought baby Savanah home after a very normal pregnancy and delivery last June. Savanah’s check-up the day before she died showed no immediate concerns. 

June 21, 2011, the Herold family’s world slipped into darkness without warning.

“I looked at her and something just wasn’t right,” Angela told me. She immediately called 911 and performed infant CPR until help arrived. Nothing. Savanah was gone.

Doctors aren’t sure why Savanah died. They say it wasn’t SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. They told the family maybe something was wrong with her liver. The bottom line is they just don’t know, so the Herold family will never have answers. They have six days of beautiful memories and a lifetime of healing ahead.

Angela struggles through the blackest of days with the help of her family. Some days she just goes through the motions to get through. Most of the time though, she shrugs off the darkness and concentrates on her reason to smile; her two other daughters, 7-year-old Breyhana and 3-year-old Tegan.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m doing too well, but with the two older ones, I have no choice. It has definitely made me cherish my other daughters more.”

I talked to Angela following a series of stories on miscarriage and stillbirths. Though anyone can see the devastation of losing a newborn, understanding the grief of a miscarriage is harder, unless you’ve experienced it yourself. All grief is different, but a loss is a loss. If you haven’t yet, please read the story of Lisa. She buried seven little girls who never had a chance to draw a breath.

These stories of loss can bring you to tears, but our next story is one of hope for any parent who has lost a child … and you can help.

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Until then, take care ~Sarah D.