Happy 23rd Birthday Baby Girl

 

 

Twenty-three years ago tonight I was in labor getting ready to give birth to my second child, my beloved daughter Brandi.

 

My husband kept falling asleep so I told him to go home and not come back until he could stay awake with me, then my dear friend (and at the time co-worker) Betty came to keep me company, feed me ice chips, and keep me focused. I don't know who said the second child delivery is easier...it certainly wasn't in my case.  I was in "hard" labor for 16 hours with my son, but with Brandi it dragged on for 36 LONG miserable hours. 

 

I always considered Brandi my miracle baby and said God had special plans for her.  I shouldn't have been able to conceive (don't worry, I'll spare you the details) but I can so clearly remember the day I took the home pregnancy test, not believing it could be possible but literally on my knees in the bathroom praying for a positive test while I waited for the results.

 

I had a hard pregnancy with Brandi due to a condition called placenta previa. In our case her placenta was completely covering the opening to my cervix and I hemorrhaged often throughout the pregnancy. Every time I rushed to the hospital the doctor was shocked to see her heart still beating.  When I was 6 months pregnant I became very sick with a severe case of pneumonia, so severe that I was hospitalized on Christmas eve and spent the holidays in the hospital. I wasn't getting enough oxygen which meant my baby wasn't getting enough either.  Once again the doctors warned I would probably lose my child, and once again I did not.

 

When Brandi was born she was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen, she looked just like the Gerber baby with her big blue eyes and cherub face. Within a day of being released from the hospital Brandi turned orange due to jaundice...NOT yellow...but bright pumpkin orange (hence her nick name Pumpkin Head.) She had to stay under lights for several days and we were told if her bilirubin level went up one point higher she would need a complete blood transfer.  All of her blood would be replaced with new blood.  THAT was scary!

 

When Brandi was 5 years old she got chicken pox, not normal everyday chicken pox (although she had those as well), but the type that goes internally and attacks her organs. They were everywhere, on her eyeballs, down her throat...EVERYWHERE!  We came close to losing her then, as a matter of fact when we were finally told she was out of the woods on Thanksgiving Day 1995 the doctor said it was the worse case of chicken pox where the child had not died that he'd seen in eight years.  Yes,we had so much to be thankful for that year.

 

Birthdays have always been a big deal in our family, what better reason to celebrate than the day your reason to live was born. 

 

I can't imagine a life without Brandi in it...the thought is incomprehensible to me. I know she's sick, but she's a fighter...the past 23 years has shown us that.  My daughter is my hero, she's every good part of me with a little of her own sassiness added in. She's beautiful and witty, and has a heart as big as all out doors.

 

She's the reason I walk, run, ride, advocate, educate, and volunteer.  I will do anything, fight anyone or anything to keep her safe and happy. I will not let diabetes take her life and rip her away from me or her own precious child. She's the strongest person I have ever known and I aspire to be just like her if I ever grow up.

 

I love you my precious pumpkin head.  Happy, HAPPY Birthday!