OZH COMMUNITY
INTO POSITIVE
TURNS LOSS FOR OTHER FAMILIES
GRIEVING COUPLE BY DWAIN HEBDA | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON MASTERS P
aige Porter Laub knew some- thing was wrong. The young woman had been through pregnancy before and
was well-attuned to how her latest should be coming along. So when she went to bed that evening in January, she could tell something was off. “About 7:30 p.m., I noticed I hadn’t felt a lot of movement,” she said. “Me, being stubborn as ever, I was like, it’s fine. We’re going to wait, and I’ll eat some cookies and he’ll move. He never did.” The next morning, the couple arrived at Ozark Healthcare where they were met by their nurse, Melissa Hadley. “Melissa couldn’t find a heartbeat. So,
she got her head nurse, and she couldn’t find the heartbeat,” Paige said. “So then, in probably five minutes, we had our doctor in there to give us the news.” Baby Aaron was born asleep on
January 29, 2020. Devastated though they were, Paige and her husband Mark remember being surrounded by love and support through the shock of the loss.
“It was amazing,” Paige said. “Melissa was just phenomenal. She stayed by my side through everything and coached me and laughed with me and cried with me. “Dr. Roylance, was just an absolute god-
send. I’m pretty sure he cleared his entire morning schedule just to sit up there with us and have uplifting conversations and just be there. He didn’t have to do that.”
14 | OZARKS HEALTHCARE | SPRING 2021
The Laubs noticed the staff kept apol- ogizing for not having a cuddle cot, a de- vice that cools the infant’s body and allows families more time to say goodbye. On the way home, Paige and Mark reflected on the conversation. “As soon as we left the hospital, buying
a cuddle cot became our goal,” Paige said. “We didn’t get a whole lot of time with Aaron after he passed away. It was really
We didn’t get a whole lot of time with Aaron after he passed away. It was really important
for us that other families had that opportunity.
important for us that other families had that opportunity.” Seeing as how cuddle cots can range from $3,000 to $6,000 depending on model, the couple couldn’t afford to just write a check for one. Instead, they launched a fundraising campaign in April to purchase the device. They gave them- selves a five-year window to raise the
“ ”
targeted amount but reached their goal in just a couple of months, underscoring the power of their story. Mark said the process of raising the
money had a therapeutic effect for the couple, too. “At first, I was like, whatever. I don’t think we’re going to be able to get this cuddle cot, but I’ll support you 100 per- cent, Paige. That’s what my thoughts were,” he said. “We started this out of thin air and the next thing you know, we’re ordering and buying a cuddle cot. “It really helped. It took a little bit of a burden off of me and actually gave us a purpose. And even though Aaron didn’t get to live his life, he still had a purpose, too.” The couple, who is currently ex-
pecting and plans to use Ozark Healthcare for the delivery, has other plans to keep Aaron’s memory alive. They’d like to one day start a fund to help cover costs of families whose babies are stillborn. It’s all part of a gradual healing process, Paige said. “I would tell someone going through this that it’s okay not to be okay, but don’t dwell on that either,” she said. “Ev- ery child’s life matters and even though a family loses a baby, you can still do things to bring purpose to your life and the life of your child. And that will con- nect you, even though that child is no longer here on earth.”
Opposite Page: Paige Porter Laub and husband Mark.
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