Mother Takes The Pain Of Losing A Child And Turns It Into Something Beautiful: The Story Of Rylei

Sometimes even the moments that feel so precious don’t turn out the way we’ve expected. In life, we face pain, anguish, struggle, and more. The decision we make can take that and turn it into something so beautiful. Read more about the story of Rylei.

Krysta Davis a 23-year-old mother had struggled with previous pregnancies and carrying her daughter Rylei Arcadia Diane Lovett. At just 18 weeks, she and her boyfriend Derek Lovett, 26 was faced with even more devastating news. This is something that no mother should have to deal with. A rare health condition called anencephaly is when an unborn baby develops without parts of its skull or brain. The doctor continued to tell them that they didn’t expect poor Rylei to live more than 30 minutes after she was born. “[The doctor] said babies with anencephaly don’t tend to survive birth let alone cord-cutting. There was no outcome where she would be able to survive on her own for very long if at all,” Davis said.

“It was a huge heartbreak knowing that we’d miscarried previously and were having complications with this pregnancy… it was really hard to take in,” said Davis of Cleveland, Tennessee.

What Were They To Do?

This young couple was left with two options. They could induce labor immediately or carry their child for the full 9 months and donate the organs to those in need. This is a heartbreaking decision that no mother should have to make. Even though a decision like this is daunting, Krysta stayed strong throughout. It didn’t take long for this couple to make a decision. They proceeded to talk it out and Davis said. “We knew that’s what we wanted to do.”We decided that even if we couldn’t bring our daughter home, no mother would have to go through what we were going to go through.”

Mother’s Journey

Krysta decided to carry Rylei for 40 weeks and 2 days. This was a hard experience for this mother and father, but they planned to “cherish what time we had with her,” Davis said. “I knew we would have time after to grieve and be sad.”

It was Christmas Eve when Davis gave birth to their little girl Rylei. She said that “It was the most overwhelming feeling of love that I’ve ever felt in my life. Laying eyes on her, I never knew that I could love someone so much. It was insane.” [1]

One Week Filled With A Lifetime Of Love

Even though the first diagnosis told the young couple that Rylei wasn’t expected to live longer than 30 minutes, little Rylei wasn’t ready to leave this world just yet. Despite her underlying health issues, she fought like a warrior and survived an entire 7 days.

“It was absolutely amazing going from knowing we were maybe gonna get 30 minutes with her at most to having a week with her was more than we could have ever expected or imagined,” Davis said. “We were able to fit an entire lifetime of love into that one week with her that wasn’t promised to begin with. She just smiled the whole time. She was such a good baby.” The young couple stayed with their daughter for the whole week in the hospital until she sadly passed away on New Year’s Eve.

Warrior Rylei

“It’s like she was fighting to give us more time. It was amazing,” said her mom. “She surprised everyone by being alive for that week.”

Little Rylei continued to show strength for that small amount of time she had left, she didn’t cry once. She let out a small wail when her oxygen levels lowered, but she was the happiest baby her mother had ever seen. After the time they had with Rylei, her organs were donated. Her lungs were donated to a research hospital and the valves of her heart were given to two children in need. Rylei now lives on through her mother and through the lives of these two children. “They told us after six months, we would get to inquire about who received them,” Davis said. “We are super excited. It is amazing that our little girl is going to live on.” [2]

Sharing The Story Of Rylei

It was definitely a hard experience “But it’s also been a great month that we’ve got to share her story,” said Davis. “It’s helped a lot to be able to help other women in our situation, and hear their stories. It warms our hearts to know that [Rylei’s life] will give two other babies a second chance at life.” The story of Rylei has been shared on the Facebook page Rylei Arcadia: An Unexpected Journey. You can see the post she made below on December 24, 2021.