Cuddly Blankets

At the end of our first ultrasound, our doctor told us to prepare for the possibility that the baby's heart would not be beating at our follow-up appointment in two weeks. Thus we had a very small window of time to prepare for the possibility of his or her birth. Since I was in California between the first and second ultrasounds, my mom and I went shopping for receiving blankets. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anything that was perfect. Knowing that I only had one chance to wrap up my baby, I wanted perfect. All the blankets we found were so big, and I wanted something that wouldn’t engulf our baby. After searching multiple stores, I realized that I would have to make my own blankets to get what I wanted.

Mom and I spent an entire afternoon searching for fabric. I wanted to find something with either bunnies or squirrels, and I hoped to find two fabrics so that I could make a blanket for a girl and one for a boy. The first store we tried had nothing I liked, and I felt so discouraged. We tried another store, where we found some great options for the "boy" fabric. I decided on a blue background with white bunnies.

Finding a "girl" fabric proved more difficult, and I ended up settling on a Beatrix Potter character fabric on a green background since I couldn’t find anything I really liked in pink.

I picked out a soft white material as the backing for both blankets. It had a cute pattern of raised bumps on the back for a little added style. These bumps turned out to be a real lifesaver because they provided the perfect guide for sewing straight lines without having to measure and mark the fabric.

I began work on the blankets the very first afternoon back in Illinois. First, I cut the white material into a twelve inch square, which I pinned to the patterned fabric. Then I measured and cut the patterned material to create an overhang of ½ inch. I folded that in half and folded it over on top of the white material and then sewed it down. I folded in the corners so that they looked nice. I finished both of the blankets in that one afternoon.

Working on the blankets was difficult. That day I felt exhausted both physically and emotionally. Fear that I would go into labor and not have a blanket for my baby drove me to finish them quickly. Balancing the drive to finish with the desire to make the very best blankets possible proved a lot to handle. I nearly broke down the second time I had to seam rip a mistake. Yet even though that afternoon caused me a great deal of anxiety, the memory remains very special to me. I felt so helpless during that time, because nothing that I could do could make my baby healthy. I had a small window of time to care for and connect with my daughter. Making her blankets allowed me to lavish my attention and love upon her. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to do something special for my Leah.