Little Angel




		---------------------------------------------------- WRITE 2 THE HEART Stories that are aimed "Write 2 the Heart" June 27, 2001 Volume 1, Issue 24 Cheryl Speir, Editor, moderator@write2theheart.com -------------------------------------------------------- By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of "WRITE 2 THE HEART" ----------------------------------------------------- Freely forward this ezine to as many people as you wish, just remember to send the entire issue so your friends may have an opportunity to subscribe. ----------------------------------------------------- Do you have a story you would like to share with our readers? We are currently looking for new writers. To submit, send your story as an email along with a few sentences about yourself to: moderator@write2theheart.com -------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- I know I am late, my server has been down all morning. I am assured the problem is being looked into but no one knows how long the service will be out. So I thought now would be a good time to start Topica as a back up for times like these. Only in my over eagerness I hit the wrong button on the site. I hit send invitation to join instead of add preexisting subscriber list. I guess I was having a senior moment. --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- Debbie shares her heart with us as she recounts the birth of her daughter and the frightening time afterwards. --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- Our Little Angel By: Debbie Brady --------------------------------------------------------- Nineteen and a half years ago a special "Little Angel", came into our lives. When I say little, I mean LITTLE. It was 1981 and I was pregnant with our first child. I was so excited because I wanted to give my husband a daughter. He had two sons from his first marriage and I wanted desperately to give him a little girl. My due date was March 3, 1982. I had carpenters in to transform our attic into a room for my two stepsons so I could have their room for our baby. It was December 8th and I was taking it easy just laying around the house. As I played a game of solitaire all of a sudden I started.......Well, I actually thought I was wetting my pants. I called my Mom and asked can the baby sit on your bladder and make you wet your pants? She said I better call the Doctor. Well, to make a long story short I was about to have a baby three months early. The fear I felt was more than words can express. Through the use of modern drugs, they held off m contractions for two days. On December 10, 1981, the Lord sent us this Small Little Angel. She weighed in at 2 pounds and 11 ounces. So very small, but perfectly made. She was a fighter from the start. She didn't even need to be on a ventilator. The doctors said she was doing remarkably despite being so small. There were some scares during her month and a half stay in the hospital. Her lowest weight was 1 pound 13 ounces so we had a long journey to reach the whopping weight of 4 pounds which was the weight they must be in order to go home. The weight gain was very slow, she definitely didn't take after her mother. We visited her daily, held, and talked to her. The nurses in the NICU became family. They took pictures of our Angel and taped them to her isolet. About one month into the stay, the Doctor called us in to tell us he thinks she has developed hydrocephalus commonly known as "water on the brain". We were totally devastated. She had to endure daily spinal taps trying to reduce the amount of fluid her body was producing. This is a very painful procedure, but the nurses said our Angel laid there and did not make a sound as the Doctor drained the fluid using a rather large syringe. As I said this Angel was a fighter and it became clear exactly how determined she was to make it. On our daily visits, we had to walk past the regular nursery to get to the NICU. As I walked past I looked into the nursery and saw all these heavy weight babies.......and I just lost it. I guess I was experiencing postpartum depression.... or it could have just been a regular old pity party. I began crying and my husband took me in his arms and he told me that our Angel was a Brady and Brady's are fighters. He assured me that things were going to be OK. I prayed "Dear Lord please let him be right". During this period, I had many talks with God as to what lesson he wanted me to learn from all this. I feel that everything that happens in our life is in Gods plan. Each experience is Gods way of teaching us something. I think one of the main things I really learned from this is patience. I was brought up an only child. (OK, say it, she is spoiled rotten!) My parents met all my needs and I was not a very patient woman. I wanted it and I wanted it now. Then God said, "Hold on, you are going to have to wait for this one". Finally after a month and a half on January 28, 1982, we broke the 4 pound mark and brought her home. Then I really got scared. Can I do this? She is so little and she has so many needs. But, God is good and he has given us this thing that just happens when you hold your child. Now don't think everything was just rosy from this day forward. We had our trials and tribulations. Being a preemie, she had most of the side effects. We have endured surgery due to the hydrocephalus returning at 13 months. Then we were diagnosed with a mild case of cerebral palsy on her left side. We started having seizures at 21 months. When school began, we were diagnosed with multiple learning problems and I became a soldier in the fight for a fair education for kids with learning problems. That was another thing God has taught me. I was once a pacifist and would let people walk all over me. But when you become a Mother, the strangest things happen. If someone starts messing with your child these claws and fangs just appear. I became one of these Mothers. When our angel was in the 5th grade she went and visited a facility for the handicapped. These handicaps took all forms from mental to physical. She came home that afternoon and I could tell something was really bothering her. So I waited until the time was right and asked her what was wrong. She looked at me and said "Mom, am I handicapped?" Well, my heart just fell. I took a long deep breath and said "Well, Honey, do you feel handicapped?" She thought for a minute and said "NO......" "Well", I said, "then you aren't handicapped". At this point, I think she realized that she was different. Not as different as some of the people she had seen that day but different in her own way. Fast forward now to May 18, 2001, as I sit in the chapel watching this Little Angel who has grown up to be a Compassionate, Loving and Determined young woman. I blink back tears as she receives her diploma and then brings me a single yellow rose. She reaches up and hugs me and her Dad. Then she tells us "Thank You, for all you have done for me. I look up and say, "Thank You God, for this wonderful "Little Angel." Debbie Brady Debrady34 @ aol.com --------------------------------------------------------- Debbie lives in Memphis Tennessee. She has been married to the same wonderful man for 21 years. Together they have their one angel daughter and three sons. She enjoys reading, writing and just living each day to the fullest. -------------------------------------------------------- FROM OUR READERS --------------------------------------------------------- What a clever concept on my past thoughts and ridding myself of them. Thank You Cheryl. Happy Wednesday. Clare (Thank AJ for her clever concept) What a great message from AJ Thomas. I wrote a response to her. Please visit www.thehungersite.com to save lives and donate free food to the hungry. No cost to you! Nancee --------------------------------------------------------- Cheryl's Corner --------------------------------------------------------- We recently went to the wedding of the only girl in my husbands family. She was so beautiful! Brides seem to glow with an inner radiance of their joy. As this niece walked down the aisle, I remembered all of the Christmas mornings she and her brother shared with our boys at their grandparents house. I still see her with her hair streaming behind her as she runs outside, still in her gown to jump on the new trampoline. Her sweet face always showed her excitement. Funny, I don't feel any older, how did these children become old enough to marry and have children of their own? That is one of God's mysteries of life, that one day your child grows up and becomes your friend. For me there has been no sadness in the metamorphosis. I prayed long ago that He would prepare me for each stage of my children's lives and He has been faithful. God Bless Cheryl --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2001 Write 2 The Heart Nothing may be reproduced or published without the written permission of the individual authors or copyright owners. ------------------------------------------------------------ All subscriptions sent to your email free of charge.