🩵 Sawyer's Stitches LIVE Ep. 5 - Crocheting for Baby Loss Awareness 🧸

🧸 *Sawyer's Stitches 2025 EP 4* 🧸 October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. For the months of August-October, please join us as we live stream for "Sawyer's Stitches". The purpose of this project is to crochet hats and blankets for babies who have passed away. These crocheted goods will be a small bit of comfort to the families who receive them and possibly even rest with the babies for eternity. This is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart as my husband and I lost our 17-hour-old baby boy in August 2023. You can read Sawyer's story below. 🩵 *Guidelines for Sawyer's Stitches* 🩵 - Crochet or Knit hats or blankets for angel babies - Use any yarn that is soft. Pink and blue are preferred - Hats should be between 4 inches and 14 inch circumference (all sizes are needed) - Blankets can be as small as 12 x 12 inches or as large as a receiving blanket - Use any pattern or stitch that you'd like - Donate your crocheted items to your local hospital that has a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) marked as "Sawyer's Stitches". Inform the hospital that you would like your items to be given to families who's babies pass away. - OPTIONAL: I will also be crocheting mini hearts in the same yarn that is used on the hats and blankets. Many parents will choose to leave the hat on their baby or leave the blanket with them during burial. The mini heart is for the parents to keep as a reminder that they have a piece of their baby always. - Please send me a picture of your donations so that I can make a collage of them. Email photos to: thecelestialhomebody@gmail.com Thank you for your contributions to this cause. As a loss mom, I can tell you that you ARE making a difference in these parents' lives. *My Book* UP HERE : A Comforting Book for Families of Child Loss By Katie Swanson READ ALOUD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoXaT-WrqwU&t=15s&ab_channel=Katie%F0%9F%8C%99TheCelestialHomebody *Sawyer's Story* I had a picture-perfect pregnancy with Sawyer. He was a healthy baby through and through. We prepared his nursery, his clothes, and his bassinet right next to our bed. After the turmoil that my husband and I had been through with our fertility and trying to carry a baby to term after 2 miscarriages, it was finally our moment to meet our miracle on August 10, 2023. But as labor progressed, Sawyer's heart rate began to have major decelerations. Finally, it came time to deliver. We think his heart stopped beating on my very last push as he was born into this world silent and still. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice. Right after he was born, the nurses took him to the incubation station. I remember yelling "cry, baby, please cry" as I heard my mom say over my shoulder "they're intubating him". I didn't know at the time how dire the circumstance was. I thought maybe he just had a little bit of fluid in his lungs so he couldn't cry. But as more doctors and nurses entered that tiny hospital room, and the minutes, then hours went by that I could not see my baby who I had grown, I realized that my son's birthday might also be his death day. After 45 minutes of no heartbeat, the medical team was able to intubate and resuscitate Sawyer. But he was still in critical condition. He was transported to a high-level NICU an hour away, where I couldn't be with him as I had just given birth. 17 hours after he was born, my husband and I were finally able to be discharged and drive to the hospital, where he lay in an incubator bed, attached to wires and tubes. We received a call on our way there that things weren't looking good and that he would not make it. By the time he arrived, our perfect and much-anticipated baby boy only had minutes left to live. My husband and I both got a chance to hold him in our arms for the first and last time. We had to make the decision to take him off life support as we could see that he was in pain. Sawyer took his last breath in my arms on August 11, 2023. He ultimately died from multiple organ failure from the prolonged lack of oxygen. We left 2 hospitals that day with empty arms and shattered hearts. We had to come home to that empty bassinet and cried ourselves to sleep for months. We still do. Sawyer's favorite food was steak fajitas and he LOVED spicy food. He would always dance when I sang Broadway music and he was so sweet. I could feel that he was such a gentile soul. He never even made me sick! He was the most beautiful baby I have ever seen (yes, I know I'm biased). He had a full head of thick, black hair like his daddy and he was a BIG boy. At birth, he was 8 pounds 2 oz and 23 inches long!! Not a single day goes by that I don't think of him. I truly don't know how I am here writing this today. I never thought that I'd be able to live without my son. Now, we have his little sister, 10-month-old Celeste (her name means "Heaven"), whom we named in honor of where her big brother is watching her grow up. Sawyer James Swanson August 10-11, 2023