Emilia Rose Carnucci

January 24, 2022
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Emilia Rose Carnucci is the beloved daughter of Mike and Allison Carnucci. After a seemingly healthy pregnancy, doctors discovered that Emilia’s heart was no longer beating at 36 weeks 6 days gestation. Emilia was born on September 9, 2021, weighing 6 pounds 13 ounces, and 20.5 inches long. Emilia was the perfect combination of Mike and Allison, with cute chubby cheeks and a perfect little nose.

For Emilia’s memorial service, Mike and Allison wrote a letter to Emilia sharing the life lessons they had planned to teach her during her lifetime, and now will teach her in the way they carry out their lives. They encourage you to consider implementing one or all of these concepts in your lives, from time to time, in honor of sweet Emilia.

Emilia Rose, from the day that we found out we were pregnant, though we hadn’t yet met you, we already loved you more than life itself.

We got to know you over the course of 257 days, each and every one we knew was a blessing. Even the ordinary moments with you were incredible. We responded to every roll, every squirm, and every hiccup (though your Mommy did complain about those a time or two). Your Daddy especially enjoyed watching your kicks; one time you kicked him right in the head when he was listening to you in Mommy’s tummy. We counted down the days to each of our doctor’s appointments. We couldn’t get enough of seeing you on the ultrasounds with your beautiful chipmunk cheeks and big feet that would make you a soccer star like Daddy. Our hearts beamed with joy when we heard your heartbeat every few weeks; it is the most beautiful song we will ever hear in our lifetimes.

We tried to make the ordinary days extraordinary for you. We played you songs of all types on the piano: from classical songs to enrich your mind all the way to classic rock songs for fun. Remember Mommy practicing “My Girl” to announce to your family that we were pregnant? You probably are singing that song in Heaven since you heard it so often. The fun didn’t end there — your Daddy read you lots of books and played a star role in singing you “Baby Beluga” several times a week. On our last weekend with you, we had so much fun — we took you to Forest Park for an outdoor dinner of Dewey’s pizza, put together your bookshelf for the nursery, and watched Friends on TV with lots of laughs. We know you could feel our love for you during each of these simple moments.

During our pregnancy, you also heard us planning a lot — I’m sure you learned quickly this is one of Mommy’s favorite pastimes. One topic we spent some time thinking about was all of the life lessons we’d teach you as you grew up. While you’re not here with us physically, we know you are watching over us and we still plan to teach you these lessons in the way we carry out our lives. There are a few life lessons in particular that we will teach you over the coming days, weeks, months, and years.

Be Brave: In the wake of losing you, each and every day is full of uncertainty which can be very scary. Rather than let our fear paralyze us, we’re putting one foot in front of the other and facing the hard stuff head-on, supporting each other every step of the way.

Have Faith: When Mommy was 16 weeks pregnant, your Gigi asked us what would be the most important thing we would teach you. After reflecting, we wrote in your journal that we were going to teach you the importance of having a strong faith in good times and bad. Losing you is the absolute hardest thing your Mommy and Daddy have ever experienced, and we are doing our best to lean on our faith to guide us through this incredibly painful and uncertain time.

Be Thankful: Your Mommy and Daddy are so thankful for the 257 days we got to know you in this life, and we look forward to continuing to grow that connection with you until the day that we are reunited again by talking to you daily. We understand that life is fragile and to never take another moment, each other, or the countless special family and friends in our lives for granted.

Be Kind: We want to show you the importance of being kind to not only those you know, but everyone you encounter. You never know how a small gesture can impact someone’s life. We know that you have been witnessing the outpouring of love and support that has come from family, friends, and acquaintances during our time of need, for which we are incredibly grateful. Please know that this love and support is for you too, Emilia. You are so loved! And while it is hard to think about now, we hope to one day be a helping hand, a listening ear, or a shoulder to cry on when others are in need.

For 257 days we were blessed to know you. As we look ahead, we wonder, in 257 days where will we be? We don’t know the answer, but we can promise you this — we will make you proud every single day. For the time being, this may just be by getting out of bed in the morning, finding a bit of peace in the day, or performing a random act of kindness for a stranger. As time passes and our broken hearts mend, we hope to weave these lessons into our lives in ways big and small. When faced with tough decisions in life, we will continue to ask ourselves, “What would Emilia want us to do?”

Emilia, you changed us from the moment we found out we were pregnant with you. We know you will continue to profoundly change not only your Mommy and Daddy, but each person that is standing here today and those showing support from afar. We love you, our girl, our little Baby Beluga. As always, this is not goodbye, but see you later.

Mike and Allison created this memorial page to:

-Share their love for and memories of Emilia

-Bring awareness to stillbirth. It is their hope that, in sharing Emilia’s story, others will be encouraged to donate to organizations (like Star Legacy Foundation) that are dedicated to reducing the stillbirth rate in the United States.

-Encourage others to implement one or all of the ‘life lessons’ mentioned, in honor of Emilia. Mike and Allison will find comfort knowing that Emilia’s life resulted in a legacy of kindness and gratitude among her family and friends.

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