Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Bellard.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Andrea. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My husband and I adopted our oldest daughter as an infant. We badly wanted to make her a big sister. Unfortunately, we struggled with infertility and endured many years of fertility treatments. We did 3 Clomid rounds, an inter-uterine surgery, and 7 rounds of IVF (4 fresh and 3 frozen) before we finally saw our first positive pregnancy test. After 6 years of trying, endless tears cried, millions of prayers, selling our home for IVF and maxing out all our credit cards, we were starting to give up on the hope that we could grow our family. My pregnancy was uneventful and my sweet baby girl, met every growth milestone. She was due 10/3/2015, but my baby was breech and I was scheduled for a C-section on 9-28-2015, when I awoke on 9/25/15, I realized I had not felt my baby move the night before as I fell asleep. I called my doctor and came in for what was supposed to be a pre-op appointment. Instead, my world shattered. A piece of me died that day. My baby I prayed so much for was gone, she no longer had a heartbeat. On 9/25/15, Adalynn Peyton Bellard, came into the world silently, sleeping, without a heartbeat and with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. When Adalynn died, so did the old me. I was a counselor, but could no longer fathom helping others with their troubles and concerns after losing my daughter. I wanted to start a non-profit in her honor, but still needed to work. As time passed, I was terrified others would forget my heavenly baby and I would hear her name less and less. I wanted to speak her name and tell her story and save other mothers from a similar loss. From this passion, Adalynn’s Attic was born. Adalynn’s Attic is a Rainbow Baby Boutique, we carry a selection of merchandise dedicated to families who have endured a loss and have been fortunate enough to be blessed with another baby. These babies are called Rainbow babies because their existence brings hope after the storm of grief endured by loss. Adalynn is forever a baby and therefore I felt selling baby and toddler clothing that I would have purchased for her, was fitting. Everything from our name, our logo, to our inventory represents Adalynn. Her nursery is decorated in teal and purple foxes, so that is our logo. The rainbow in the tail of the baby fox represents the hope of a rainbow baby for the families of babies gone too soon. We welcomed our rainbow baby, Hope, just days after Adalynn’s first birthday (9/30/16). We use Adalynn’s story and her boutique to create awareness about pregnancy/infancy loss, stillbirth, while educating expecting mother’s about the importance of kick counts and identifying their baby’s pattern of movement.
Has it been a smooth road?
Starting out was rough. It was a slow growing process to gain exposure and to build trust among mothers. But we just celebrated our 1 year anniversary and it makes me smile to see how much we have grown and how many mothers of angel babies we have united. So many mothers and grandmothers have come to me with similar heartbreaking stories. They love that we talk openly about Adalynn’s story and work to promote awareness, while advocating for changes in maternity care that can save full-term babies. We started out doing a lot of local vendor events to get exposure, those were hard… in the heat or rain, loading and unloading heavy merchandise. We don’t do events that regularly anymore and primarily do about 95% of our business via social media, primarily Facebook. Word of mouth among mothers has resulted in significant growth in the last 3 months!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We specialize in baby and toddler clothing and accessories for boys/girls ages Newborn up to 7/8. When I was pregnant, my doctor never told me about kick counts, or that my baby should have a pattern of movement established by 3rd trimester. I was only ever asked, “Is baby moving?” To which I would respond, “Yes, or not right this second, but in general yes.” This information would have saved my baby’s life. Adalynn was a healthy 7lb, 4oz full-term baby. We honor her brief life by sharing her story, and educating expecting mothers about the importance of kick counts. We tell them you will never regret running to the hospital to check on your babies reduced movement, but you will regret not going. What sets us apart from other baby and toddler boutiques is our advocacy for loss families and their babies, our dedication to the hope that rainbow babies bring, and our monthly donation partnering with non-profit organizations to benefit grieving families. Every month we select an item, and donate 100% of proceeds to the Star Legacy Foundation to assist in the research and prevention of stillbirth in the United States. We are also partnering with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) for their annual walk in April where we intend to be a sponsor for the walk. The NILMDTS organization provides services to help parents experiencing early infant loss. They provide professional remembrance photography for families enduring a loss. What I am most proud of is the sense of community that has been established through Adalynn’s name and Adalynn’s story. I am always so humbled and touched to have a mama reach out to me from across the country, or even in other countries and tell me they are thinking about my baby, or they heard her story and wanted to reach out to me. Adalynn’s story brings out the goodness in people and her little life has given me such purpose. I can’t image doing anything else, she is my passion and I feed that passion into growing her boutique, and sharing her story, so that it is never over.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I feel like the Dallas Metroplex is filled with little pockets of close-knit communities that embrace and support small business owners. These communities have embraced Adalynn’s story and my growing business. My biggest recommendation to someone starting out, it figure out who your ideal customer base is and embrace them. My customers are mothers, some who have endured IVF, have NICU graduates, struggled with infertility, have angel babies, have rainbow babies, or know others who have endured these experiences. Together over 3,000 mamas have come together in Adalynn’s online group to shop, to share, to problem solve potty training, etc…All things related to mom life!
Pricing:
- Items priced from $5-$50
- Flate Rate $3 shipping
- Online Discount Code: ADDYBEAR
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.adalynnsattic.com
- Email: info@adalynnsattic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adalynnsattic/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/groups/265598647237236
- Other: https://m.facebook.com/tealandpurplefoxes/
Image Credit:
shermanjphotography@gmail.com
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