Celebrating Shamus

A short time ago Melissa and Todd received the most devastating news. Their son had a condition that was causing a severe developmental problem. His condition was called anencephaly. Although anencephaly is considered a "terminal birth defect",  they knew their son was NOT defective. He was fearfully and wonderfully made. He was created in God's image and WE ALL love him.
 Most babies with his condition live a few minutes to a few hours. A few have made it a couple days. The doctors encouraged Melissa to terminate her pregnancy because of the terminal condition this is "allowed". However she and Todd chose LIFE for their baby boy. They said, "The decision was easy. When God calls our son home we want to be holding him in our arms. Over the next 20 weeks or so we will be enjoying our son. We will live for him and eachother. We will celebrate him in all we do. When the time comes we will hold him and love him and celebrate his birthday and then celebrate his life."
They named him Shamus Patrick Mann after our brothers Patrick Maloney and Shamus Flynn, two of the strongest, bravest, best men that we know and love. "Our son is a fighter and a fighter needs a strong name."
They didn't want anyone to  feel sorry for them. Instead they asked for everyone to help them celebrate and stay positive and pray for peace and strength. They knew the immense pain they were going to face but also knew that love is greater than pain. This was the path that God gave them and they intend to make the best of it.

So we began to celebrate Shamus in all that we did. We celebrated many of his firsts including visiting the pumpkin patch, Halloween, Disneyland trips, Thanksgiving, trip to LACMA, adventures in the snow, cheering on daddy at his races, and Christmas. He was loved and celebrated every chance we could.

Early Saturday morning at 1:03 am we welcomed Shamus Patrick into the world. He weighed 1lb 14oz and was 11.5 inches long. It is with the heaviest of hearts that I tell you our baby Shamus has been born into heaven earlier than expected. Shamus Patrick fought relentlessly for 31 weeks to live and LIVE he did. He lived inside of Melissa and through his daddy. Shamus moved and kicked and hiccuped like any other baby. He reacted to music and the sounds of voices. He moved and kicked whenever he heard Todd's voice. Getting to know him was the best time of his mommy and daddy's lives.
"Shamus Patrick is and was the absolute best part of Todd and I. We wouldn't change our decision to try to carry him to term. He most definitely was compatible with life. He was never taken for granted. He was always loved and always wanted. He changed our lives more than we ever thought possible. Shamus opened our hearts to new experiences and new possibilities. We will forever be grateful to God for our baby boy and all that he brought us. More importantly we will always be #celebratingshamus."
On behalf of Melissa and Todd, thank you all for your love and support, and for taking this journey with them. Many of you have asked what you can do to help. This page has been set up to help Melissa and Todd with medical and funeral costs that are unexpectedly adding up quickly. Your love and support in helping with this means the world to them. 
We will continue to celebrate Shamus as he will live in our hearts forever. Tonight hug your kids a little tighter. Let the little things go, and know that we are grateful for all of you.
"There are no footprints too small that they can not leave an imprint on this world."  #celebratingshamus

Shannon Maloney-Flores