Matt and Abby Howard Mark Late Daughter Emerson Nicole’s Would-Be Due Date After Pregnancy Loss

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• Matt and Abby Howard paid tribute to their late daughter, Emerson Nicole, months after announcing their pregnancy loss

• “We grieve because we love (so so much) and for the rest of our lives we will carry your love with us,” the couple wrote on Instagram as they marked what would have been Emerson’s due date on Feb. 28

• The influencers initially announced their loss on Sept. 27, just over a month after they told PEOPLE they were expecting

Matt and Abby Howard are remembering their late daughter on her would-be due date.

Just over five months after they announced that they lost their third baby, the couple — who are influencers and podcast hosts — shared a heartbreaking tribute in honor of what would have been their baby girl’s due date.

“In another version of today maybe we were holding you for the very first time,” the couple wrote on Instagram on Saturday, Feb. 28, alongside a photo of Matt and Abby looking down at a bouquet of white flowers. “But that’s not today.”

“Today we are grieving you: our daughter and baby sister,” they continued. “We grieve because we love (so so much) and for the rest of our lives we will carry your love with us. Happy due date sweet Emerson Nicole. 🤍🪽.”

Matt and Abby, who share sons Griffin, 3, and August, 2, opened up about the loss of their baby on Sept. 27, noting that Abby was around 17 weeks into her pregnancy when the tragedy occurred.

“It is with very heavy hearts that we share about the loss of our baby girl born far too soon,” the couple wrote alongside a photo of their hands clasped together in a hospital bed. “At a routine pregnancy appointment, our doctor could not find a heartbeat. Shortly after they sent us in for an ultrasound where the technician said words we will never forget, ‘I am so sorry I do not have good news.’ “

“That is when we got the gender reveal we never hoped for, and also the news that our baby had a genetic condition that took her life around 17 weeks’ gestation,” the post continued. “The news felt unimaginable. The grief is absolutely devastating. But we feel so much gratitude for the time that we did get to have with her. And we still have hope. Hope has continued to show up for us in so many ways.”

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Nearly two weeks after they shared the news, the couple revealed during the Oct. 8 episode of their The Unplanned Podcast that they found out about their pregnancy loss during a “routine pregnancy checkup appointment.”

“Everything was just very routine,” Abby recalled. “[The nurse] put the little Doppler on my abdomen, and she couldn’t find anything, and it was taking a little bit. And I think, like you said, that’s always spooky. That’s a worse fear situation.”

Although another doctor was called in to further assess the situation, they were unable to find the baby’s heartbeat and eventually brought Abby into the ultrasound room for another check.

“I just remember I literally grabbed [the ultrasound technician’s] arm and she said, ‘Abby, I don’t have good news for you,’ ” she continued, while getting emotional. “And that was when it feels like there was an Abby [before] that moment and an Abby [after] that moment.”

“I will never forget walking into the hospital,” she added. “I was just looking at my feet and I was just thinking, ‘One more step, more step, one more step.’ Because that’s all I could do is break [it] up into next right step, the next right step.”

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