Brady... Turning 12!!

in honor of my first born turning TWELVE tomorrow, i dug out an old facebook blog about him... i love you b!!

brady and his niece azria :)

The Story of Brady

I suppose all children want to know how they came into this world.  And my son Brady is no different.  As soon as I wrote “The Story of Brittin”, he made it clear there would also be “The Story of Brady”!  So here it is!

Brady is my first born… special in so many ways.  Before I had Brady, I had a miscarriage.  When I found out I was pregnant the second time, I was nervous but overjoyed!!  Early in my pregnancy my mom read a magazine article about a woman who developed preeclampsia during her pregnancy and died.  That actually wasn’t what I wanted to hear.  However, I also read that only 5% of women develop preeclampsia.  That made me feel better.

I loved being pregnant!  I felt great!  Brady was super active… imagine that!  The only problem that I had was the swelling!  By June I couldn’t wear ANY of my shoes!  Thankfully it was summer and I found a pair of sandals to wear.  July 14th was a Friday and I had a doctor appointment.  I couldn’t wait to show him my feet!  For once they were the normal size!!  And I felt great!  I was pumped!  So you can imagine how SHOCKED I was when I got to the doctor, they took my blood pressure and sent me straight to the hospital!  Totally unexpected!  I’ll never forget, when we got there the parking attendant could see I was very pregnant, though 7 weeks from my due date, and asked me if I’d like a wheelchair.  Why in the world would I want a wheelchair!?  I wasn’t in labor so I declined.  After wandering massive Memorial Hospital for 20 minutes I sincerely wished I’d accepted that wheelchair offer!

 The plan was, monitor my blood pressure.  Give me some medicine to get it back to normal and send me home for some bed rest until delivery.  That’s NOT what happened!  Friday night I missed my aunt and uncles surprise 25th wedding anniversary!  Saturday, I missed my own baby shower!  Sunday I missed my dad’s surprise 50th party I’d been planning!  I like to blame him for this!  When I told my parents my due date:  Sept 1, 2000, my dad’s response was “I’d be cool if you had the baby on my birthday”.  His birthday is July 12th!  That’s actually NOT cool!!  But here I was, day three of being in the hospital, praying I’d be able to go home!  Who would’ve guessed I’d be in the five percent of women who develop preeclampsia!?   By Sunday evening, July 16th, the decision was made, I would not being going home.  Labor would be induced and I would delivery Brady on Monday July 17th, 2000.

Over the weekend, I’d been given steroid shots to help Brady’s lungs develop.  An ultra sound showed he weighted approximately 4 ½ pounds.  All there was left to do was wait.  I was induced… and nothing was happening.  I was given magnesium to prevent me from having a seizure because my blood pressure was so high.  Magnesium makes you very groggy!  That was a blessing because I slept all day!  My family on the other hand waited and waited all day, for some news!  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my doctor and I wasn’t too fond of the doctor I did have.  She came in to check on me around 9:30 a.m. and asked what I’d like her to do.  I told her “take this baby out”!!!  I was then informed “C-sections are major surgery not to be taken lightly.  You’ll have to wait for the induction to work and deliver him”.  My question, “Then why did you ask me what I want if I can’t even have it!?”.  I showed her!!  By five p.m., still no baby and I was only at 1 cm!  So ha!  The doctor came in, told me, “I’m going to run home, have dinner, change clothes and I’ll be back to do the C-section”.  WHAT??  You’re doing what??  Get this baby out now!  She wasn’t kidding.  She took her sweet time!  But at 6:37 my precious Brady was born!  A plump 3 lb. 2 oz!!

I know brady thinks there is a special relationship between father and son.  No doubt there is… I know how he feels about his Big Daddy.  But there is no other relationship like that of mother and son.  I found that out that July in 2000.  The second I laid eyes on him, I was hooked!  To this day 12 years later, I still feel like I have an extra special relationship with Brady.  Having him in my life got me through some really tough times.  I have a truck load of regrets when it comes to mistakes I’ve made with him.  And brady will admit he’s had some serious resentment toward me.  Thanks to Big Daddy, brady and I have worked through a lot of this.  Brady’s learned to forgive me for the past and I’ve learned to forgive myself.

I also, dug this other blog out… and thought I’d share it as well in honor of brady!

                Inspiration from an 11 year old

After losing his first 2 wrestling matches and having to sit out a couple of times, our son Brady got to try again last night.  It was going to be my first time watching him and I was quite honestly prepared for the worst.  Oh ME of little faith… Brady did AWESOME!  His match lasted just over 2 minutes and in the end, not only did BRADY WIN, but he PINNED his opponent!

On the way home, Mike asked Brady “what was that?  That was like a totally different kid!!”  and here’s Brady’s answer:    “the coach came and told me I was going to wrestle.  He said he wanted me to take 5 minutes and think about what I was going to do.  All I could think about was I’M TIRED OF LOSING!  And at the end… when the ref lifted MY arm instead of the other guy’s, THAT WAS AWESOME… WAY BETTER!!”

Now… if that’s not FAITH and the POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING, I don’t know what is!

Thank you B!!!  You are an AMAZING son!!  I couldn’t ask for more!  You make me so proud!  You’re smart.  You’re athletic.  You are sensitive and caring.  But probably my favorite thing about you is your BOLDNESS and Zest for Life!  There is nothing you’re afraid to try… no one you’re afraid to talk to!!  You set such a wonderful example to so many people!!  I love you B!!!