CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A family in Cedar Rapids is coping with the loss of their child through the nonprofit No Foot Too Small. The organization was founded seven years ago and works to connect families who have experienced pregnancy or the loss of children.

“We knew that something was going on with our ultrasound, their dimensions were small,” explained Averi Bauer. She got the news at her 20-week appointment.

“She suspected that our child had a chromosomal abnormality,” recalled Bauer. After the appointment, she called her husband Chris.

“Just an unexpected and heartbreaking phone call,” Chris told us.

The couple have two healthy daughters and couldn’t have imagined that baby number three would be any different.

“There’s a good chance she won’t make it to full term, and a good chance she won’t survive the birth even if she does. And even if she survives the birth, it can be seconds, minutes, hours, days, ”recalls Chris.

Cora was born in full term in September. She survived the birth and looked normal on the outside.

“We thought at first that the doctors might be wrong,” said Chris.

“It was only slowly fading hours after the birth,” he added.

Cora was born with Edwards Syndrome and her heart was not working properly. She lived about 10 hours surrounded by loved ones.

As the family gets along, they rely on connections made through No Foot Too Small, who even met virtually during the pandemic.

“There is no schedule for this loss, so it could be a miscarriage or a stillbirth. There are a variety of losses,” said Ali Maahs, director of family support at NFTS.

You’re holding a Good Grief conference on Friday. People can register for it online and it is open to anyone who is in mourning.

“It could be a job loss, it could be a parent loss, it could be anything,” Maahs explained.

Chris and Averi Bauer plan to participate. In addition to losing a child, the pandemic, and the derecho, the couple also moved from Texas to Iowa last year, and the new connections they have made through the organization really helped them get through that time.

“It’s positive but empathy at the same time,” Chris told TV-9.

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