A Quick Update & A New Project!

The last 5 months have flown by and I can't believe how big Flynn is getting. It's been an interesting  new part of our journey that is for sure. Most people say to me that Flynn must be so healing and in ways, yes he certainly has been but having him has also made Deklyn's absence more apparent in new ways. I honestly have been more emotional about him being gone now than I was before Flynn was here. Deklyn's birthday was a hard one... His party was mostly fine, but the morning at church was pretty rough. I just so badly wanted to hear someone say "Happy Birthday Deklyn"... I did get a few texts from some wonderful friends which I appreciated so very much. I try not be unrealistic... I know most people didn't know it was his birthday but it was just harder than his past birthdays for some reason.

I've really been struggling with feeling like Deklyn is slowly slipping away... like he is talked about less and less which I guess is expected... he's not here, but as a mom its still hard. This week I got the privilege of talking to a group of mom's about him and that was just so good for my heart. When I went I didn't want to just tell a story, but have the mom's come away challenged. I often feel like things make sense in my head but don't come out right in my words so I really hope I made sense... but either way I was blessed to be with those ladies who let me share Deklyn and help my heart heal a little more. One thing in particular that I still struggle with is healing... I know our God is healer and I know healing happens all the time! I love hearing those stories but at the same time they often make me feel like I must have done something wrong.. but I know that is just a lie. God is good in spite of everything I've been through, I choose to say it and believe it everyday no matter how I feel and what I'm struggling with. How easy is it to say that God is good when all is going well? Or when the healing does come... I think it means a lot more to say it in the hard times because it is true all the time.

A few days ago I posted a picture of Deklyn's bear on instagram. We take Deklyn's bear with us when we go away and will take pictures of it in memory of Deklyn. A friend of mine mentioned that she wanted one of those pictures to put up as a reminder of the powerful impact life can have and it got me thinking... there could very well be other people who want that exact reminder in there home, or maybe Deklyn has taught them something else and they would want a picture of his bear as a reminder of whatever that is... so we started The Mr. Bear Project. How it works is we have a bunch of pictures up on our photography page on Facebook, pick a picture and either message us there or e-mail me at cassondra.faith@gmail.com with the picture number you want. All the proceeds will go to The Deklyn Sawatzky Endownment Fund, we ask for a minimum donation of $15 and when you message or e-mail me I'll let you know how you can do that! You can view all the pictures here

I so appreciate everyone who has been keeping our family in your prayers. There are so many of you and it is so appreciated. I so often meet people who I do not know but tell me they followed Deklyn's Journey and that he has changed there lives... I can not tell you how happy that makes this mama's heart. I apologize for not writing very often, I sometimes feel like I don't have a whole lot to say... and what I may feel like saying is too sad or not encouraging.. but I know there are others out there who struggle with the same things and maybe reading how I feel will make them feel like they are not alone so I'm going to try my best to write a little more often. Deklyn is forever on our minds, in our hearts and in our lives because we will continue to say his name and keep his memory alive. I only hope he is proud of all we try to do in his memory. 

He is Here!

Well the last 2 weeks has been quite the change for us and our home.

On September 1st at 11:47am we welcomed our second son into our lives. I was scheduled for a c-section and he was supposed to be born around 8:30am but there ended up being an emergency c-section and someone else ahead of us so we finally went into the OR sometime after 11am. I was excited and nervous just as I'm sure any mom is before her baby is about to be born. I had wonderful staff looking after me and of course my amazing husband there to be my support (I can not say enough how incredible he is... he took such good care of me after surgery). As I lay there and Sheridan sat beside me we heard his beautiful cry and I couldn't help but cry too. It was so amazing to hear, I can count on one hand how many times I heard Deklyn's cry (if you can even really call it a cry, it was more like hearing his voice for a split second) so it felt very overwhelming to hear his cry and know he must be at least fairly healthy to have such a strong cry.

After sometime I finally got hold him while I was in recovery... what a feeling... to hold him when he was under an hour old. He was so peaceful and so incredibly cute. I honestly can't put into words what it is like to have a healthy child after a child who was so sick. I feel like I am living a dream, an amazing dream. I love everything about being this boys mom, and I honestly mean everything. I know that will probably change and getting up in the middle of the night will get old.... it probably helps that he's one of the best babies. He hardly ever cries and at the moment is letting us get a good amount of sleep. I took him for a walk today and I just felt so happy... this is what I've always wanted to do and I feel so blessed and so lucky to be doing this. Being a mom has been the most rewarding thing I've done in my life. Both my boys have been extremely different situations but both rewarding, incredible and both have made me grow and learn in different ways.

I was very prepared for bringing him home to be tough.. we are so used to it just being us and doing whatever we wanted on our own time. But when Sheridan and I got home from the hospital with our beautiful little boy we looked at each other and couldn't believe how right it felt. We didn't have anxiety, we weren't scared... we just felt so much joy and peace. Of course I know it won't be easy, and so far he honestly has been such a great baby, we can not complain. I did have a bit of guilt coming home though... this baby is in no way to replace Deklyn or even to ease the pain of losing Deklyn... but I still felt some guilt like maybe I shouldn't be so happy and a piece of me wishes I could talk to Deklyn and know that he knows he isn't being replaced.. but of course I know that Deklyn is just as happy as us and I'm sure he is just so excited to have a little brother and must be telling everyone in Heaven about him. Deklyn not being with us will never get easier, and actually having this little guy here has made me miss him even more but like always I know he wouldn't want to come back even if he had the choice and I'm so glad I have the promise of seeing him again and we'll all be together.

Well, thats all I'll share for now but I'll leave you with some photos!

Here he is, Flynn Hudson Grant Sawatzky born on September 1st at 11:47am, 7 pounds 1 oz and 20 inches long.

Change in 2015 for the Sawatzky House!

Hello Everyone! I have no idea if anyone even checks this blog anymore as I haven't posted in so long! Honestly I'd start to write and just couldn't finish or post because I didn't feel like what I was saying made any sense... It was so much easier writing and updating about Deklyn compared to now.. sharing how you feel is tough and not always very easy for me.

The past 2 years have been a whirlwind of almost every emotion possible. Since the last time I posted we've past Deklyn's 3rd birthday and 2 years since he passed away. These days just never get easier, maybe with time they will... but I honestly don't really expect them to and I maybe don't even want them to. These days are reasons to talk about Deklyn and to remember him and we have some pretty awesome family and friends that always do their best to make sure these days are not forgotten and are always special and we are SO grateful for these people in our lives.

Now along with not posting in so long I have another reason for writing this post. As I said the past 2 years has been filled with so many emotions and changes for us as a couple and family, and in 2015 we will actually be adding to our family! We are expecting our 2nd baby due in September and we couldn't be more excited and happy. I was pretty nervous about this news getting out as I wasn't sure how people would react as I knew most people would be completely shocked but we've had nothing but support and I so appreciate it!

Most people wonder what kind of emotions we felt in finding out we were expecting and honestly... we just agreed that no matter what we would be happy. If this baby had HPP or not, this baby would be loved and cared for just as much as we loved and cared for Deklyn. 

We had an ultrasound around 12 weeks to see how the baby was doing and that day I was pretty nervous... although I was happy we were having a baby I knew this ultrasound would show us if  we would be having a some what normal pregnancy/newborn stage or if we'd be going down a similar road to what we had with Deklyn. Either way I was going to be happy... but I knew I'd feel sad for the baby if it had HPP and of course it goes with out saying it would just be easier if there were no complications.

As we started the ultrasound we could see our beautiful baby's profile and then I saw what I had never seen on any ultrasound we had with Deklyn and that was long arms stretching out and long legs wiggling around. I instantly knew, this baby did not have HPP. Although at that ultrasound they could not tell us anything for sure they did say as of right now all looked good but we'd need to come back just to make sure. In their words, the baby could have a less severe form than Deklyn did.

So we went back 2 more times after that and we were told that they are 90% sure this baby does not have HPP. Which is a relief of course, but brings in a new set of worries... what is it going to be like being able to bring our baby home? Having to get up in the middle of the night to care for it? Having a normal newborn experience is not something we had with Deklyn.. so it'll bring some challenges and I'm sure some frustrations but we are so excited and feel so lucky that we get to go through a 'normal' pregnancy. I so look forward to doing all the things we felt we didn't get to do with Deklyn but I also know this new journey could make me miss Deklyn in a whole new way.

We have also been told that we are having another boy! So I am sure Deklyn is super excited to be getting a brother and we are so excited too! We know everyone is hoping that this little guy will have his brothers cheeks and we'll definitely try our best! 

Like always, we'd like to thank everyone for the support and love! No matter what we go through whether its hard or exciting we always feel such amazing support and we couldn't be more grateful. We know although this time is so happy & exciting it will bring new challenges and things to work through but with our amazing God and all the loving people in our lives we'll make it through whatever life throws at us. 

I'll leave you with a few picture of our newest baby boy expected early September!

Whats Most Important In Your Life?

Well, like usual its been awhile since my last post. I often get the question “So, any news about adoption?” the answer to that would be no. As I’ve mentioned before we’ll get a call when a mom has picked us, and we won’t hear anything until then or if it gets to the point where we’ve been available for a year and still haven't been picked then we’ll have to re-new some paper work and pay more fees but that's about it.

Since my last post, not a whole lot has changed in our lives. We are just trying our very best to enjoy this time in our lives, even if for the most part we wish our lives were different. For now, I'm enjoying that we can do whatever we want with out children holding us back, and sleep! I know one of these days sleep will be hard to find! We were very lucky to invite another niece into our family, so that is so exciting but also kinda hard because this is a member of the family that will never meet Deklyn here on earth. I know she will know who Deklyn is and that makes me happy, but it still hurts to know they won’t grow up and play together.

Every single morning I have to make a choice, I  have to choose if I will let my past make me upset that day or I can choose to think about all the wonderful things in my life and choose to be happy. I don’t always make the choice I should, actually often I don’t.

There are a few things that I think about to try and keep my attitude in the right place, and maybe you’ll find that these will help you too:

1) Even though my life may not be exactly the way I would want it, I still have so much to be happy about.

2) When I choose to forget about myself and my problems and focus on others and helping others I find I just feel so much better and often the things that I was upset about don’t seem so big anymore.

3) Everyone goes through bad times in their life, I once heard someone say “If you haven’t ran into hard times yet just live a little longer” and I think that so true. But it helps to know that I am not the only one struggling and we are just so lucky to have such an amazing God that cares so much for us and is with us every single step of the way.

And here is the big one, at least for me!

4) What really is important? Let that sink in… Really…. Deep inside your heart, what is most important to you?  For me this can change from day to day… but I try my best to make God the most important thing in my life. So what would my life look like if God is the most important thing? The way I look at it is this, when I get to heaven will God ask me “How many kids did you have?” or “Did you get everything you wanted on earth?” I really don’t think any of those things will matter at all when we get to heaven. But I will have to be accountable for what I did while I was here, and I hope with all that I am that I get to hear “Well Done”. So to accomplish that I need to listen to God, obey him and love others with all that I am. Its not easy, but day by day I am trying my best to live in a way that is most pleasing to God and maybe one of these days we will be blessed with another child, but I am trying my best not to focus on that but focus on God and what I can do for him during this short time that I am here.

I hope this short post has encouraged and challenged you in some way!
Thank you to all of you have continued to pray for us and support us. It means so much!

Its Been A While....

Well its been a while since I posted anything here! I really haven't had much of any significance to say other than I miss my baby boy which goes with out saying I think. I know I could easily use my blog as a place to vent and I'd be lying if I said I haven't used it for that before but I really want to try to use my blog as a place for encouraging others and not just a place to show case how sad it can be to have lost a child.

This past week Sheridan and I went on a last minute trip Mexico and just had such a great time! Of course there were some tough parts, I can't help but feel sad when I see other parents playing with their kids in the water.. I can just see Sheridan playing with Deklyn in the sand or in the ocean but I have to remind myself we will have eternity with him in heaven. I also have to remind myself if he was still with us we wouldn't be able to do things like this, although I would much rather have him with me. But we just love traveling together and I love how through everything we've been through we love each other even more and I know that it could have easily gone the other way. We've worked very hard to keep our relationship moving in the right direction and I'm so proud of how we've handled all this together.

Something I've really struggled with lately is being a parent to a dead child. I am still a mom, even though Deklyn is not here with me but I struggle with not being able to do things for him... going into Target, I am drawn to the little boys clothes... I possibly even pick up a few and want to buy them so badly, but why? He no longer needs me to buy him clothes. I see cute little stuffed animals and so badly want to buy them for him, but for what? to stick it in his crib along with all the other toys he will no longer play with? All these things may seem kinda small things to be upset about... but for me, its very very hard. While in Mexico I found the cutest little stuffed animal, I told Sheridan "I would have bought that for Deklyn" I could not take my eyes off it, I could not tell my mind to stop thinking about it...  all I wanted was to buy it for him. I told Sheridan how badly I wish I could get that for him, Sheridan told me if it would help me I could buy it. But I knew it wouldn't. Bringing it home to empty crib would just make it worse. I don't know why I'm writing this right now, but hopefully someone else who is going through this knows that they are not alone in these feelings. Everything about losing a child is tough, but I'm glad that I can use my situation to help others.

Holidays are always tough. I can just imagine bringing Deklyn to gatherings and how fun it would be. Seeing him get gifts and playing with his cousins. But I try my best just to remember where he is right now is way better than anything he could experience here, and although I'm sad for myself and my family I couldn't be more happy for him. I am so incredibly grateful for all that Jesus has done for us, with out him I wouldn't have the hope of being with Deklyn again and with out that I know for a fact I would not be doing well at all. This Easter Sheridan and I went to Deklyn's grave and found a few things left for him there, I don't know if anyone could ever understand how happy & sad this is all at once... I'm so incredibly happy and grateful that Deklyn is still remembered, thought of and even given gifts even though he is no longer here. But sad that they are left at his grave rather than being played with. We are so lucky to have family that care so much, and even the little things that they do for us and Deklyn can make my day, week & month (so don't stop haha!).

Since the end of January, Sheridan and I completed the adoption process so we are currently available to be picked as adoptive parents. How it works now, is a girl who is pregnant would go to our adoption agency and she gets to pick from a bunch of files who she would like to be the adoptive parents of her child. Here is where you can help us, if you know someone who is pregnant and is considering adoption you can tell her about us and if she really likes us and would consider us as adoptive parents we can go to our agency to tell them we've found someone who wants us to have their child which means we would skip the waiting for a phone call to be told we have been picked. I personally can not wait to have another baby, being a mom has always been all I've wanted to be and not being able to act like one has been really hard for me. 

Thank you all so much for your support! If you know of anyone who is pregnant and looking into adoption seriously, feel free to put them in contact with us or they can go to Adoption Options in Winnipeg and say that they want to see our file. Thank you for the continued prayers, love and support we so appreciate it!

1 Year

Yesterday marked 1 year since Deklyn's celebration of life, February 28th marked 1 year since Deklyn passed away. At the time, I thought that those moments were the hardest in my life but if I'm completely honest there have been days since he passed away that have been much harder then those days. You'd think that as you come to a year, the hurt should be a little less... sometimes it is, sometimes its not. Its hard to explain the feelings around losing your child. As I thought about February 28th coming up... I really didn't expect it to be a very hard day.. we miss Deklyn all the time.. that day wouldn't really be any different. February 27th, I was in the car by myself and suddenly I was just incredibly sad that Deklyn wasn't in the back in a car seat... it just hit me out of no where... I was trying not to cry but I honestly couldn't stop the tears from coming. That's when I began to think the next day might be harder then I thought... but it really was ok.. I missed him, and it made me sad that that day marked a year since we had seen him alive.. but we kept busy and that made it easier. I honestly hadn't cried at all, until we came home from supper with Sheridan's siblings and the driveway was lined with colorful jars, and lights in them.

A huge thank you to my mom and mom in-law for organizing this! Each jar contained a note from someone. It was almost like after the funeral all over again, in a good way! We sat at our table taking turns reading the notes and reading how Deklyn and we have affected people in such a good way just made me feel so good. Although we'd been told these things before it just never hurts to hear it again and by so many people. Thank you to everyone who was a part of this, or to anyone who sent me texts and e-mails that day. Its always nice to know that we are being thought of and that people are praying for us. I try very hard to make sure people in my family still feel like Deklyn is a part of their lives in the best way I know how.. so for this to be done for us meant a lot to me... I'd been feeling like I was running dry, giving so much of myself and trying to make others happy and this definitely made me feel so much better.

I'm going to leave you with a post that I didn't write. a friend of mine passed this along and it really helped me see things from a better perspective. You can find that post here. Everyone who has asked the question "Why me?" should read this... it really helped me to see again what really matters. It doesn't matter whats going on with everyone else, we are called to follow Jesus. I hope you find it as encouraging a I did.

Grief

Everyone handles grief differently, and I don't think there is a right or wrong way. I didn't know that grief would be the way that it is for me. When Deklyn died, I didn't know if I could ever be genuinely happy again. I thought how can I 'move on' without one of my children here with me? Its amazing the thoughts that run through your mind in those moments when I could hardly even say the word funeral and picking the color of his casket felt like torture.Although Deklyn was sick, his death still felt like a suprise. The night before he died, Sheridan and I were lucky enough to get to hold him. He had pretty bad de-saturations when being moved to our arms, these de-saturations would usually send doctors and nurses and RT's running to his side. But this time we just let him work though it on his own as we had already made the decision to let him go when he was ready, and when he came though it he was pretty calm and seemed happy to be in our arms. I cried looking at his puffy little body, wishing with all my heart that I could take every bit of his pain away. Sheridan and I prayed for him and knew that this wasn't over, Deklyn could still get his healing at any moment. We never stopped believing, even though he was so sick and we were so tired. I remember whispering in his ear numerous times how much I loved him and that he could go to be with Jesus whenever he wanted to, but I never stopped believing. When he died I felt completely numb, almost like the moment I was told there was something wrong with him, but a thousand times worse.

So how has grief affected me? Deklyn was the first person that I was really close to that passed away. I had never had to deal with this kind of grief before and I really didn't know how to handle it. I knew I didn't want to be mad at God, because I know this wasn't God's doing. But why? Why my son? Why couldn't he get better like the other kids with HPP like Gideon who is just doing amazingly well? I imagined them playing together and being just the best buddies because they have this strange thing in common. Why did this have to happen to my family? I was attacked by these questions, and I so easily could have let them take root in my heart and make me angry.

Sometimes these "why" questions cause me a lot of pain. Sometimes I let them get to me and they cause me to get very angry... but what I try to do is re-direct my thoughts. I can't change the fact that Deklyn died, I can't change the fact that the 14 months we had with him were spent in the hospital... but the time that we had really was amazing and I wouldn't trade it for anything! If I think about that, and how he is free from all pain, running and dancing... how can I be sad about that?? I'm so incredibly happy for Deklyn... but sad for us and for our families. We've got 1 niece and 1 nephew right now, and few more on the way and so many friends having babies this year which is so incredibly exciting but if I think about how Deklyn won't get to play with them here on earth, and how we're going to see more babies born healthy, its very easy to be jealous that we didn't get that experience with Deklyn it can make me very sad and a very unhappy person, but I have to make the choice to be happy. I feel upset that people just really don't understand what I've gone though... but at the same time I wouldn't wish what I've gone through upon anyone. I'm not saying I always make the right choice, but I try my best. I know that one day we will all be together in heaven forever, and that will be SO awesome. But for right now, we are just going to miss him and we just can't change that, but I can change my attitude. I'm only hurting myself by being upset.

I know so many people struggling with grief, and I don't have this all figured out not even close. But I know the way I'm handling grief has helped other so I thought I'd share it on here. I still have bad days, but they are fewer than they used to be and it is totally ok to have bad days, but I just can't let it consume by life. I don't know how long it will be till I see Deklyn again and I don't want to spend all that time being sad and angry. I'd rather take my experinces and reach out to others and show the love of God to others. Helping others has helped me more than you could imagine. Talking with other mom's who had lost children has also been very helpful, showing me that I'm not the only one dealing with this kind of loss. Its everywhere, and I'm actually lucky that I got 14 months with Deklyn, not everyone is that lucky.

I hope that what I've said here has helped at least one person. I would also like to ask if Sheridan, myself and our families could get some prayers this month. February 28th marks 1 year since Deklyn passed away and there are just so many memories that come with this month. Its pretty overwhelming thinking about all the things we had to talk about in his last month, we so appreciate your prayers!

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