By Beauty Smith
Mommy to Levi-Ronald
Anencephaly
July 24, 2025
In November of 2024, I found out I was pregnant. Everything was going good until it wasn’t. Me and my husband went in for an ultrasound, and my husband knew something wasn’t right just by how the lady kept looking at the ultrasound. We asked if something was wrong, and she said yes. She said it looked like the baby had anencephaly, which is where his brain didn’t fully develop.
She wanted to get a second opinion from the doctor, and the doctor confirmed it. We had to go to another doctor’s office a week later to see a specialist, and they also confirmed it too. Me and my husband were hurt. This was our 10th baby, and we had never had this happen before.
They offered me an abortion, but I said no because of my Christian beliefs. I decided to carry my baby the whole nine months and let God take him when He was ready. I just hoped this would never happen again.
My hospital stay was horrible. When I felt like it was time for me to push, they told me I needed to dilate more and said they would come back in a few hours. After a while, I felt a lot of pressure and told them the baby was coming, but the nurse in the room ignored me. My husband went to press the help button for the nurse, and another nurse turned it off and just stood there before finally going to get the doctor. By the time the doctors came in and put their gloves on, I had already pushed my son out onto the bed. That was the worst hospital experience of my life. I was so worried my son would have hit the ground or something. That will always stay with me.
Our baby, Levi-Ronald, passed away 45 minutes after he was born. He didn’t have a long time here.
After losing him, it was very emotional. Honestly, it’s still very emotional. We think about him every day. There are times we cry out of nowhere because of the pain of losing our baby. I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone. We had him cremated, and his ashes are in a teddy bear. My kids walk around with that teddy bear and treat him like he’s a real person. They really miss their brother. It hurts. I’m supposed to have 10 children, not nine and a teddy bear. It’s a lot.
We were connected with On Angels’ Wings through a hospital social worker after Levi’s diagnosis, and they have been a lot of help. I really appreciate the photos they have done – maternity pictures and pictures of Levi-Ronald after he was born. OAW is very loving and caring. The pictures are amazing and give us wonderful memories.