wanna see what the FIRST ollie looked like?!

part 1 of 3

last we left off, i had just created the swaddle for my foster son, Oliver.  i would love to now share how i actually came up with the design.

this is my why behind the design. 

as i mentioned, i tried every single swaddle on the market and none of them worked for Oliver.  so, in my head, i started combining the things that didn’t work in other swaddles with the things that Oliver needed but wasn’t available.

here is a glimpse into my brain . . .

Oliver and i lived in a small one bedroom apartment, with his crib in my room. this was before i made the swaddle for Oliver, so he wasn’t doing much sleeping or eating at the time. 

i had just gotten a new swaddle from Target and was trying it for the first time. he fell asleep in my arms and i laid him in his crib. he stayed asleep for a few minutes and then he started stirring.

i remember this so clearly …

i had to use the bathroom (like so badly). it was just the two of us, so i ran to pee as quickly as i could.while i was using the bathroom, he started really crying and screaming. 

then it changed. it sounded suppressed.

i literally ran mid pee to check on him. with all of his movement, he had squirmed enough that the fabric was over his mouth. i couldn’t take it off quick enough. i threw that thing in the trash just as quickly. 

that was the moment i knew Oliver had to have something that went and stayed below his shoulders. nothing like that existed. 

so “below the shoulders” became the first item on my brain-list of what Oliver needed in a swaddle.