'We wished for a baby but we got a little angel instead'

Dominique Nugent's devastating post about second trimester baby loss is heartbreaking, and also raises awareness about miscarriage

Wed, 07 Feb, 2024 - 17:45

Amanda Cassidy

"I couldn't believe we were going to be parents." Irish influencer Dominique Nugent wrote in an Instagram post to her 134 thousand followers. "We talked for months planning this summer and our lives around our baby's arrival."

The Dubliner and her husband Paddy, who hails from Cork, were married last summer but hadn't yet revealed that they were expecting a baby. Instead, heartbreakingly, Dominique made a heart-wrenching post talking about their baby loss.

"It's hard to comprehend when the excitement and nerves of a pregnancy turn into the unbearable sadness and grief of a loss", she wrote. "We were overjoyed to find out I was pregnant last year... We had a few scans and saw our baby moving around kicking and waving. We heard their heartbeat for the first time, it was magic. We were both so excited."

The couple were married in June 2023 and hadn't yet announced their pregnancy

But Nugent went on to say that on the follow-up scan, something was wrong. "At a follow-up scan when the doctor couldn't find their heartbeat anymore, everything came crashing down. Our hopes and dreams were dashed in that moment. I was admitted to the Coombe and my labour was induced. I went through days of pain and agonising contractions all the while knowing I wouldn't be taking our baby home at the end of it all. I delivered our baby on the 19th of January, one day short of sixteen weeks. We got to spend some precious moments just the three of us."

Dominique shared a number of pictures from the time, including a memory box, a little baby bib with 'Hello Daddy, I can't wait to meet you' on it, as well as a babygro hanging from a dreamcatcher with the words 'born in 2024'.

Influencer Dominique Nugent writes a heartbreaking post about the loss of her baby at 16 weeks

"It was the saddest day of our lives having to say goodbye before we ever got to say hello," she wrote poignantly.

"I thought of that car seat photo everyone takes leaving the hospital and thought of us leaving with our baby's tiny coffin. Life can be so cruel sometimes.

We wished for a baby but we got a little angel instead".

Nugent finished her heartbreaking post with the hashtags Secondtrimesterloss, Miscarriage, and BabyLossAwareness.

Thousands of well-wishers, including fellow influencers Pippa O'Connor and Sabrina Hill offered their condolences. "I'm so sorry for your tremendous loss," wrote entrepreneur Pippa, who shared her own baby loss in 2022. "I'm so devastated for you both", wrote Hill. "I'm actually crying. I am so so sorry for the loss of your baby. Sending you so much love."

Also including Nugent's husband Paddy in her comment, Louise Cooney wrote "I'm so sorry Dominique. That is absolutely heartbreaking. Sending you and Paddy all the love and strength in the world."