I will carry you

Overcome with exhaustion, I decided to lie down late this afternoon. I fell asleep almost immediately and had a dream that was so vivid and alive that I woke up instantly when it had ended. Stumbling - consumed with fatigue - I had to grab my journal off the dresser and write. I didn't even know what I had written until I finished.

It was a moment where the words poured out of me - rare - and one I won't forget...

August 1, 2010
2 months since you've been gone.

Days and days with no sleep and I finally just crashed, collapsed.

I don't remember falling asleep - it was instant.

I had a dream. Same life as I live now. Sawyer is dead - life has moved on - but we never buried him. It was my choice.

Wherever I went - I would take his tiny body and carry it with me.

He wasn't anything awful to look at. It was just, simply, Sawyer - and he was dead. And I didn't care - and I loved him - and I carried him around to prove it to every single person that could see me.

And as I furiously write, to not forget, I realize, that is exactly what I have doing the entire time - this unthinkable image is real.

You might not see Sawyer - but he is here - and I am carrying him with me everywhere I go. Every single moment of every single day for the rest of my life.

And this dream has helped me to realize that he really is with me - and it is a beautiful burden that I must endure.

And life goes on - and I carry Sawyer through it all.

My baby

Last night, I couldn't sleep. Tuesday was a difficult day and the reality of what happened really didn't sink in until yesterday. My arms were heavy, aching for Sawyer. The massive migraine that I had the week Erik went back to work, suddenly came back with full force. I was instantly brought back to the pain I had felt nearly a month ago. One step forward, one hundred steps back.

I came to bed late. Erik was already asleep and I had just spent the last hour standing in front of Sawyer's pictures, crying. Searching for any sign that he was with me. Wanting him in a way only a mother who has lost a child can understand.

Feeling so overwhelmed with sadness, I crept into Sadie's room to hold her as she was sleeping. Stroking her cheek and laying my head on her chest. Listening to her heartbeat.

My headache at this point was at its worst, so I climbed into bed and asked Erik to get me a compress to alleviate the pain. When he came back, I lost it. I couldn't stop crying. Over and over again I kept saying "My baby, my baby..." and thru the tears I prayed to Sawyer. Sometime after that I fell asleep.

In the past few weeks I have made new friends. Mothers like me who have lost a baby. Friends that I am grateful for. Megan is one friend I have connected with very well. We both lost our babies around the same time and have found much comfort in knowing that we aren't alone in a world that seems to go on when we are so stuck in our suffering.

She sent me this today:

Everyday, I question myself of what heaven is like for children. My mom asked me the other day "do you think there is a playground in heaven?" I didn't respond as I only tried to imagine what it would look like. After she asked me that, I began thinking of who Wyatt would play with, and I thought about Sawyer and Whittney's son, Owen. All day on Tuesday, I continued to imagine the three of them hanging out together and playing on the playground of heaven.

All of this is probably why I dreamed what I did. But my dream was about this woman who came to visit (I never saw her face), but she had this little baby boy with her. He was in his car seat and she put him up on the counter so I could see him. The dream is basically a blur from there, but I remember this baby like it was real. The little boy was probably about 2 months old, he had a perfectly shaped head, and green eyes. I remember asking the mother if I could hold the child and she said I could. As I was picking him up out of the car seat, she told me his name was "Sawyer".

My baby.

The dream

Nearly three years ago, when I was pregnant with Sadie, I had a dream - that is actually more of a nightmare. It was so vivid and realistic, I remember waking up my husband and calling my sister to tell them about it because it had shaken me up so terribly.

There isn't much to it...

Erik and I were in a room with dark paneling on the walls, wood floors that creaked under our feet every time we took a step. It was an older house but we were in a quiet, office-like setting and a man was leading us around the room.

The man was a funeral director. And Erik and I were there to pick out a casket for our baby that died. We picked a white one.

Sawyer's casket was white too.

Dreaming of you

I had a vivid dream about my Sawyer last night. I just wanted to share that Sawyer came to me in my dreams. It made me smile.