Local couple helps parents navigate the devastating loss of an infant

Kristin Blouch was five months pregnant at a routine ultrasound appointment when she heard the unthinkable.

The ultrasound technician and doctor were unable to find a heartbeat.

The night before, Kristin and her husband, Chris, could feel the baby kicking.

Chase Robert, their third child, was stillborn on Feb. 17, 2015.

Soon, the Philadelphia couple was drowning in papers and pamphlets on grieving and memorializing their son.

"I was angry," Kristin told FOX 29. "I felt isolated, like I was the only one that this had ever happened to."

It wasn't until later that Kristin and Chris realized the one piece of advice they were missing: how to best spend the one day they would have with Chase.

From that void, a non-profit was born.

The Blouch family channeled its heartache and regret into A Day with Chase. The organization aims to help parents navigate the devastating experience of losing an infant.

"There is such a need for these families that lose a baby," Kristin explains.

So the couple started to gather supplies for "Making Memory Boxes" intended for parents in similar situations. Inside each box was a bottle of baby wash, a camera, canvas and ink to capture hand and footprints, as well as a book.

Now, with more money behind the foundation, it can focus its efforts on larger scale projects, like providing hospitals with the funds to purchase a CuddleCot, a $3,000 crib-cooling device that preserves the bodies of deceased newborns -- allowing families to extend the time they have with their babies.

Three years after losing their son, the couple is overwhelmed by the support it's received.

"It just blows us away to see the impact that he's now having on so many people," Chris says.

For other grieving parents, Kristin offers this advice:

"It's okay to feel angry," she says. "It's okay to cry when you want to cry."

Then, once it's possible to push past the feelings?

"Talk about it. Be open," Kristin says. "I wouldn't be able to help so many families now if I hadn't talked."

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To donate to A Day with Chase, see here.