Abby

After experiencing two miscarriages in five months author Lesa Kelley Stember and her husband joyfully but anxiously learn they are again pregnant. Trepidation marks the first several months of the pregnancy but the couple finally relaxes. Then during an ordinary day in the sixth month Lesa's fears are realized-Abby stops moving.</p><p>Trying to remain calm she discusses the lack of movement with her midwife Terry the next afternoon. Terry is initially reassuring but as she begins an ultrasound her face immediately morphs. Silence fills the room and Lesa slowly understands its significance-no heartbeat can be heard. For unexplained reasons Abby's perfect little body has died forcing Lesa and her husband Jaime to live through her tragic stillbirth. The experience does not end then but becomes relentless torture over a period of weeks as the family suffers through Abby's cremation and the scattering of her ashes on a section of beach in Pebble Beach California.</p><p><I>Abby</I> an honest introspective memoir of a stillbirth and its emotional aftermath is also a celebration of Abby's three-year-old sister Peyton. Her small voice and tender heart pulled her family over incredible obstacles and gave them peace and hope during the darkest hours imaginable.</p>