"I just lost it. I didn’t know anything, and no one could tell me anything."
Recounting the birth of her fourth child brought instant tears to Stefanie’s eyes. The labor and delivery was more difficult with Brody being born posterior, "sunny side up,” as compared to prior experiences giving birth to her three daughters. She said after delivering Brody that he just looked at her with one finger on his lip. He wasn’t moving his arms. He wasn’t flailing his body. He was really calm and really still. She was allowed to see him for a few brief moments before he was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
“I was told he wasn’t getting any better, and he wasn’t moving, and more tests had to be done,” she said. "I just lost it. I didn’t know anything, and no one could tell me anything.”
When Stefanie was allowed to see Brody, she was terrified. She knew her family’s life had instantly changed and she didn’t know if she ready for it. Her husband gave her encouragement and after gradually being able to touch her son, Stefanie was allowed to hold him on a pad approximately 24 hours after giving birth.
"After an MRI, we were told that he had an underdeveloped cerebellum but that kids can live without cerebellums; they just have physical delays,” she said.
Brody spent 12 days in the NICU and as those days came and went, Stefanie said it became clear that although he was making small, hopeful improvements, his condition was very different from the other babies in the unit.
Upon discharge from the hospital, thriving for Brody meant being able to eat. However, over time that ability soon diminished. Stefanie and Jeremy chose to have a feeding tube surgically implanted.
Months of testing, scans, exams, ultrasounds, xrays, meetings with neurologists, gastroenterologists, opthamologists and other specialists, along with weekly physical therapies, were exhausting - coupled with Jeremy’s company administering lay-offs.
The stress each day of the unknown weighed heavily on the entire family, and Brody’s condition continued to deteriorate.
Photo Credit:
Cliff Gull, Photopia Studios
Strength comes from doing what you thought you couldn't do.
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