To say our personal lives don’t affect our professional lives would be a lie. Last year, my husband and I found out that we were expecting! we were ecstatic about this news! However, that was short lived when we found out our son had anencephaly. This diagnosis came with many questions but the big question was, will we get to meet our son?
“Anencephaly is a serious birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull.” -CDC
With this information we were told that it would be very unlikely that we would get to meet our son. Due to this being our first pregnancy and with anencephaly it was unlikely that Cooper would make it through labor. We were devastated! My business got put on hold through the 9 months we had to navigate our lives.
“Cooper Blake Maloney was born on Friday June 10th at 2:14pm and gained his wings at 8pm. My heart is so broken today. I’m thankful for the time we got to spend with him but I wish I could be with him right now. I want to thank everyone for all of your support and help through all of this. We please ask that you give us space during this difficult time. Thank you” - Abby Maloney FB 6/10/2022
We did get to spend a few hours with our son, Cooper Blake! and those moments were so special to us and we will cherish them forever! The days and months that came after were very difficult and we were just living to survive.
Through this depression I wanted to make a big impact for thoughs who also have been going through this or even to just spread awareness! I posted my story on my Facebook page and got a lot of feedback from people who have also experienced infant loss. I started making T-shirts to spread awareness farther than I could have imagined! The t-shirts are still available here .
I want to continue using my platform to help families going through situations like we went through with Cooper Blake. I believe that our experience has not only made my family stronger but it has opened my eyes to so much more out there! I still plan to grow my business and keep making repurposed jewelry and custom t-shirts I just have a bigger reason behind my motivation!