wanna see what the FIRST ollie looked like?!
2023-08-09
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.