Co-founder
Editor, Grants, & Newsletter

Kelly, Emma’s sister, is a wife, mother and educator. She has four beautiful children on earth and three sweet babies in Heaven. She hails from Fosston, MN, attended the University of North Dakota where she earned her BA in English and a Minor in Middle Level Education. She earned her M.Ed. in Education and Library, Information, and Technology from Valley City State University. She taught High School English for 13 years and now focuses her time and energy on her family and Wildflowers of Hope. Kelly lives in East Grand Forks, MN with her husband, Kyle, their four energetic kids, and two dogs.

Kelly’s Story In Her Own Words

In 2018, I had two early miscarriages. And they were emotionally exhausting and devastating. But my body and mind "bounced back" relatively quickly.

After two more healthy babies in 2019 and 2021, we decided one more baby would complete our family. Everything seemed normal, labs were good -- even a little high, and I even started feeling Baby move around 13 weeks.

At my 20 week appointment, the tech reassured us that there was only one baby in there. When my OB came into the exam room, she had tears in her eyes and said that something was wrong. She wasn't totally sure the exact diagnosis, but it looked bad. She referred us to Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Our journey to understanding our Collette began that day.

Her official diagnosis: Complete Triploidy. Chance of survival: 0%.

In the early morning of 10/18/23 at 28 weeks + 6 days, Collette Joy was born at home (accidentally). She lived for an hour. She only knew love and she never knew suffering.

She is desperately loved and missed daily. Our family talks about her constantly and "wish she was here" for all our activities. But we know she's whole, perfect, and not suffering.

Co-founder
Head of Fargo group

Emma, Kelly’s sister, is a wife, mother and counselor. She has three handsome boys on earth and five cherished souls in heaven. After growing up in Fosston, Emma now lives in West Fargo, North Dakota with her husband, Levi, and their three boys. Emma is a Marriage and Family Therapist and heads up the Fargo part of this organization.

Emma’s Story In Her Own Words

My husband and I got married in 2018. We began the process of trying to conceive. To our surprise, it only took two months before we had our first positive pregnancy test (December 2018) and two days later, it was negative again. This began a journey of realizing that although getting pregnant would seemingly not be an issue, staying pregnant was going to be.

We went on to miscarry three more babies (between 4-13 weeks) and have two healthy babies over the course of the next three years.

In the summer of 2023, I had a very positive pregnancy test, baby due to arrive April 24, 2024.

From week 5 - week 10 of this pregnancy, I felt miserable. With our history of miscarriage, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take a deep breath until second trimester. However, when I felt immensely better at 10 weeks, I started to become concerned. We had an appointment later that week where baby’s heartbeat couldn’t be found on the Doppler but when an ultrasound was done, our provider said there was a heartbeat… but I couldn’t see a heartbeat.

For the next couple of weeks, I was a ball of anxiety. I couldn’t reconcile what I saw and what I felt innately in my body vs what I was told.

On October 17th (12 weeks, 6 days), I started spotting. “Common” in pregnancy; not common for me. On October 18th, my sister called to tell me Collette had been born and relayed the events of that morning to me. I was heartbroken. I kept spotting. I went into the clinic on my lunch break that day to check in on my baby.

My provider still couldn’t find a heartbeat. An official ultrasound needed to be done as soon as possible. The earliest this could happen would be the next day, October 19th. Seconds after the sonographer began the scan, she said the dreaded words, “I’m so sorry, but it looks like baby is measuring 8 weeks 0 days and does not have a heartbeat.”

On October 21, 2023, sweet tiny Charlotte was born. Itty bitty, tiny baby who I had the privilege of carrying for her whole life and beyond, who I got to hold and see with my eyes, months before I should have.

Charlotte Hope Preston, we remember always. We still grieve Charlotte. My 7th baby.

Loved.
Wanted.
Remembered.

Co-founder
Marketing

Sarah, Kelly’s friend, is a wife, mother and graphic designer. She has four beautiful daughters on earth and 1 darling souls in heaven (another girl!). Originally from Grand Forks, Sarah still resides there with husband, Josh, and children. Sarah works as a  graphic designer in a corporate capacity, self employed graphic design freelance business and for the mission of this organization.

Sarah’s Story In Her Own Words

After my 20 week ultrasound on August 24, 2023, my doctor informed my husband and I that baby had passed. There was no heartbeat and there had been at a previous appointment.

Ava Rose was delivered early afternoon on Saturday, August 26. The doctors concluded the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. She already looked like our kiddos at 20 weeks! She is perfect!

Her 20 week life filled us with such joy and continues to make an impact in our lives. The blessings we have received from her life have been bountiful. Our kiddos were so excited for her to arrive. They now talk about their Baby Angel who will always be watching over them. We all spent precious time together before we left the hospital. 

On September 6, we had a graveside funeral for Ava. We were surrounded by family and friends.

Ava’s little life has made a great impact in our lives. She will remain in our family, lives and hearts forever. We love you Ava Rose!