With no morning sickness and an intense craving for tomato sandwiches, everything seemed to be going well for Liliya’s pregnancy. Until it wasn’t.
After a year of trying to conceive, Liliya and her husband had been excited to learn they were pregnant with their first baby – a boy they named Ethan. But during her second trimester, fear struck as Liliya learned she was experiencing a pregnancy loss.
“We had a concerning ultrasound at 20 weeks,” Liliya explains. The next day, my waterbag broke naturally, and the closest hospital was Advocate Lutheran General’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Ethan’s heart was still beating, but since my water had broken, there wasn’t any amniotic fluid surrounding him, and there wasn’t any chance of him surviving.”
Now, just a few months after the life-changing incident, Liliya is showing her strength and honoring her late son Ethan by running in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon Oct. 8. Although Liliya once considered herself a casual runner, racing for baby Ethan energizes both her feet and spirit to fiercely compete in this year’s marathon.
“I’ve been running since 2016, on and off,” Liliya says. “What started as a New Year’s resolution – running my first-ever Chicago Marathon in 2016 and my second in 2017, has turned into a familiar friend and has given me the confidence to go after the finish line yet again. When you go through something as traumatic as losing our baby, it made me focus back on things that I truly enjoy, like running.”
In this year’s Chicago Marathon, Liliya is running with Team Advocate in support of Advocate Lutheran General’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
“I want this run to be different; I want it to be meaningful,” Liliya says. “Running with Team Advocate allows me to run for a cause in honor of Ethan. I’m keeping his spirit alive in a way, and I’m able to help many more families dealing with pregnancy complications. This initiative is so important, and the help of my family and friends means the world to me.”
With a goal to simply finish the race, Liliya won’t be looking at the time clock. Instead, she’s focused on being present and meeting every mile with gratitude – knowing Ethan’s life is being remembered and that she’s raising money for the department that took great care of both her and her son while in the hospital.
“I want to run each mile very intentionally,” Liliya says. “Ethan had such a short life, and I want his life to have meaning, so I’m dedicating each mile to a baby who didn’t make it home. I’m part of several groups with many moms who’ve lost their babies, like me, who will be in my thoughts and near and dear to my heart during this race.”
Support Team Advocate runners, like Liliya, with a donation to their cause today.