While looking for a way to honor her own daughter, Kelly Shirey, created a business that offers beautiful memorial pieces for others going through loss and more. Her business, Eden Woodcrafts, is named for her daughter Eden Isabella who was stillborn on August 21, 2017. I've had the honor of being able to interview Kelly for a Meet a Mom, Youngstown article a few weeks ago but wanted to share more about her inspirational story and her amazing business.
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Can you tell us about your family's story?
My husband Nick and I met in 2007 and were married in 2014. We are both Youngstown natives, loved the area, and saw a future for ourselves here. We found a beautiful home in Canfield, where we still reside. We decided to start trying to have children in 2016. I never expected the journey we would have when we decided to have kids, but it is one that has impacted my life in more ways than I could have imagined.
We got pregnant after a few months of trying but at our first appointment we learned that the baby no longer had a heartbeat. I was devastated. I know the statistics, but never really thought that would be something that happened to me. I was completely blindsided by that loss and was still very much in the grieving process when we started to try for another baby.
After our first miscarriage we had Eden Isabella, stillborn on August 21, 2017. My journey with her was a balancing act of grief and joy. Good news followed by bad news, hope followed by heart break. She taught us to open ourselves up to a love that we may not get to keep and forever changed us. Because of her we have a stronger relationship with each other and a stronger relationship with God.
After Eden, we were blessed with our son Finn! He is now 4 years old. He is the smartest and funniest kid that I know and he is always looking for a way to make people laugh. After Finn, we knew we were not done growing our family and started to try again when he was about a year old. We were sadly faced with another miscarriage and took some time to grieve that loss before trying again. In 2020 we completed our family with Jonah. He is the sweetest and most gentle boy but has a wild side that cracks us up. He is the type of kid that makes you want to have 100 more kids, but after the journey we had to parenthood we knew that we wanted to be done. We are so fulfilled with these two and love the life we are creating together.
Nick is a currently a homecare RN for the VA and loves his job! The area that he is working in gives him the opportunity to connect with veterans and make a difference in their lives. Outside of work he enjoys football, staying active, working in the yard, and is always taking the boys to do something fun.
I started my career as a retail pharmacist and while I am grateful for the opportunities the company and job have given me, I don’t see myself in retail forever. As I navigated my grief journey with Eden I discovered the scroll saw and fell in love with that area of woodworking. My husband and I started a small business called Eden Woodcrafts together and while I run most of it, it wouldn’t be successful without Nick as part of my team. I love creating scroll saw art and see myself doing it more in the future. I hope to one time make it a full time job and work from home while my boys grow up and it's a goal that I am currently working toward.
Is there anything you would like to share about Eden?
There were so many nerves leading up to my first ultrasound with Eden and that appointment was a complete roller coaster ride. We had a baby and we had a heartbeat! I was completely rejoicing after seeing that but when the doctor walked in the room we knew something wasn’t right. The measurement normally isn’t taken that early in the pregnancy but at the 9 week appointment the sonographer noticed an increased NT measurement. “Just above normal…a little hiccup…don’t panic…in another week everything could look fine”. We came back a week later, things were not fine, and we were referred to Akron Children’s Maternal Fetal Medicine. I did a ton of research on the NT measurement and what it could mean while I waited on that appointment. Genetic disorders and chromosomal abnormalities were high on the list but I knew there was one thing I especially didn’t want to hear – fetal hydrops.
At our 12 week appointment at Akron Children’s we heard the exact words I had hoped wouldn’t come, Eden was diagnosed with fetal hydrops. Most babies with a hydrops diagnosis at that stage don’t make it out of the first trimester but Eden continued to grow until the third trimester. One ultrasound sticks out in my memory the most because as the technician brought her image into view I remember her muttering “Oh sweet girl…how are you still here?” and I know that she was still there because she was one of the strongest little babies ever created.
We never determined what caused the hydrops for Eden, and along with that she developed a cystic hygroma. We did extensive genetic testing and every time a different test came back normal it gave me more hope that things would spontaneously resolve. Her heart (a heart defect is another common cause of fetal hydrops) was completely perfect and in my head that strong heart was the reason she was continuing to grow! I held my breath at every appointment as she was brought into view on the ultrasound, hoping that her hygroma would be shrinking or the hydrops clearing, but things got progressively worse throughout the pregnancy.
She was stillborn just as we reached the third trimester. Giving birth to her is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I was completely unprepared for what the process of child birth entailed and it was that much harder knowing that I would not be bringing home a baby. I was, however, blessed with the most wonderful doctor and the team of nurses at Mercy Health in Boardman could not have been better. I still touch base with some of them from time to time and will never forget the huge help they were during that stay. Dr. Kalia, my OB, left the biggest impact on me when she asked to hold Eden before she left.
I was completely distraught when we first got the news of her diagnosis but as I took time to process I realized that I didn’t want to look back on my time with Eden and remember only crying the whole pregnancy. I had a cousin-in-law who went through a similar situation with her son when he was diagnosed with Trisomy 18. I remembered how she focused on the joys of her pregnancy with her son and they truly celebrated his life and short time here. It was her that I looked at for guidance on how to carry myself through Eden’s pregnancy and I am happy to say that I have no regrets when I look back on it. I loved her completely, celebrated her, and had fun with her in my belly. She is one of the greatest joys of my life and I am forever grateful to have been chosen as her mom.
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How did Eden Woodcrafts get started?
After her loss I was looking for something to memorialize Eden and I stumbled upon the idea of newborn footprints turned into a sign. I kept trying to order it but it was never in stock and I thought about this sign for well over a year. The idea of her tiny little footprints and the chance to run my fingers over them and remember the feel of her little feet was so often on my mind. I finally presented the idea to my husband and said “I feel like we could figure out how to make this” and then went down the black hole that is the internet googling things like “how to cut tiny shapes in wood, how to make a wood sign” and finally stumbled upon a video of a scroll saw. I had never even heard of a scroll saw before and had no idea what the machine was when I saw it but luckily my husband knew the name!
I was soon gifted a scroll saw and have since spent countless hours researching everything I could find out about this process. I found a new love in woodworking that I never imagined. As I learned, I didn’t start by cutting the footprints because I wanted Eden’s to be the first ones I made! I was afraid I would get too frustrated and mad if I couldn’t do it so instead I started with simple shapes and then tried out handwriting. I worked on improving those signs and even started recreating some children’s art! I was then able to upgrade to a better saw (and learning on a cheap one really made me appreciate that better saw) but with that I had the confidence to finally try to make her sign. I remember finishing and just holding them in the palm of my hand and feeling that the whole process of getting there was so healing. I also knew that being able to see your child’s footprints in this way could be incredible healing for other loss mom’s and had the desire to make them for others. I hadn’t planned on this becoming a business the way it is now but Eden’s tiny feet led me down this path and there is no turning back!
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Can you tell us more about Eden Woodcrafts? Where can someone find more information about your business and what you offer?
While we started the business by offering the newborn footprints, handwriting, and children’s art it has quickly turned into so much more. We do business logos, wedding signs, family portraits, nursery signs, and more! You can browse the products and get pricing information at shopedenwoodcrafts.com You can also find us on Instagram @eden_woodcrafts and Facebook as Eden Woodcrafts to see galleries of signs we have made!
A product that is unique to our business and the one I am most proud of are the family and angel portraits. It was around the time of our second miscarriage that a person asked me what art I would make if I was making something for myself. I remember thinking on that question for weeks before this finally hit me and when it did my heart just leapt! I was so excited because I had never seen anything like this done in wood. Creating a piece to show all of my babies seemed like the most special idea. I wasn’t sure if I could even draw up my own family let alone do this for others but I just went for it.
As I’ve started creating these, I found that the hardest part is the drawing. They all need to start with a photo because I really think one of the things that makes them special is that you can actually tell who the people are on the signs. Sometimes we don’t have a photo of those we want pictured in the sign, especially for the pregnancy and infant loss moms and I am able to draw in angels by having you answer questions about the person. This design process can be sensitive but also healing. How should their child be portrayed in this art? When they meet their baby, do they imagine that child as an infant or have they grown? What color is their hair? Do they look like any siblings? So many women who have lost a baby want to talk about that child and this is a really wonderful way to allow them to do just that. One of the greatest things I’ve ever had a recipient of one of these signs say was “You put my baby back in my arms”…and while I could never actually do that it is a beautiful way for a mom to see her entire family in a work of art.
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Is there anything else you would like to add?
While my business offers many different products, the items that are closest to my heart are the ones for miscarriage and infant loss. The grief after a miscarriage is very much real but there is so much stigma around it. The idea that “it happens to so many people” or we should be able to just move right on from it is something I hear often. That wasn’t the case for me and I miss and long for those babies just as I do Eden. My heart is with any mom going through loss or infertility. I am happy to say that sharing my experiences has given other mothers someone to reach out to when they have gone through something similar. It is a community of women that no one wants to be part of but we are here for one another.
If you have, or are currently going through, a miscarriage or infant loss know that you are not alone. You may find some useful resources and information at https://supportingmamas.org/miscarriage-and-infant-loss/. St. Elizabeth Health Center, (1044 Belmont Avenue, Youngstown, OH 44501) also offers the support group HEAL (Helping Each Other After Loss). For more information about HEAL call 330-480-3149.
