BERISH BUNCH: HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE

Happy 5th Birthday to my sweet SPECIAL, adorable Bray Bray. You have come SO far these few years. I can picture you achieving so much more in the future. I am extremely PROUD and honored to call you my Best friend! You are so beautiful, compassionate, smart, and funny! You have been blessed with an amazing ability to memorize. You are so good at speaking in other languages or with different accents, singing songs, and talking like a mini-adult. I can't wait to see where life leads you. I hope you stay just as cheerful and never give up!! :)

IN THE N.I.C.U. BED

THE DAY BRAY CAME HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL IN HER "BIG" PREEMIE CLOTHES

When I was 32 weeks along during my pregnancy with Brayden, my water broke. I will never forget the terrifying news of the doctors saying..., " IT'S TOO EARLY to have your baby! We need to give you steroids to stop the contractions." It wasn't enough...Brays heart rate went up and it was seriously like an "ER episode" of them rushing in and taking me in to deliver my miracle child. I barely knew what was going on, but I heard the doctor yell, "EMERGENCY C-SECTION!" I was in complete shock. I saw and felt the entire delivery.(eeek) It was far from a beautiful child birth experience, that's for sure. I do remember my husband freaking out because he thought they sewed me up with my organs hanging out , but it was just the placenta previa. (ha ha) I never got to see or hold my baby when she was born. They put her in the NICU and I went to another floor to start recovering. I had a few problems myself, but the worst pain was worrying about my baby girl. The next morning Fred had to bring me a picture of her because I was not well enough to see her. It was the longest time of my life! And then...to even be near a 3 lb. baby was frightening. She was so fragile. She had a big burn on her hand from the IV. Her tiny veins just made it so difficult to get an IV in. She had jaundice really bad for a few months. They put a biliruben blanket on her to help with that.

IN THE N.I.C.U. W/HER BILIRUBEN BLANKET & BURNED HAND

TINY "BABY DOLL" BOTTLE THAT LOOKS SO BIG NEXT TO HER

She wasn't eating well, but I tried to pump regularly and bring her bottles of milk. Eating was a struggle because sucking was such a difficult task for a little one. Bray stayed in the NICU for one month. And on Easter Sunday she came home.

EVEN HER "BINKY" LOOKS SO BIG IN THIS PICTURE

I would dress her about 60 times a day and take tons of pictures. (and years later--now looking back--I'm SO SORRY to those of you who I would send mass pictures to ;) She was so tiny that she wore preemie clothes for a while. When she started to gain weight I had all of these clothes, but she was growing much too fast to be able to wear them. And by that I mean, she was such a chubs with the cutest little glasses at just 4 months old.

MY PINKY WAS THE SIZE OF HER FOOT

NOT SCARED ABOUT WEIGHT ANYMORE! AND THANKFULLY HER RED BEAUTY MARK HAS DISAPPEARED.

WEARING HER GLASSES AND BRACES

We were learning so much and were overwhelmed with all of the therapy and nurses that came over since she got home from the hospital. We were worried about her health, and what struggles she may face in the future. I remember my friends laughing at me because I would wheel her bassinet into the bathroom while I took a shower. I was a new Mom who had already gone through a lot with my precious tiny baby. It's so funny to look back now. I think Brayden came early to took away my misery of being pregnant. It was an awful time, although I never had any life-threatening pregnancy experiences. I just had to take expensive anti-nausea pills and I produced extra saliva. If you ask my hubby he would tell you I was a rabid dog! ha ha! My mouth would fill up with spit in seconds so I would carry around a box of Kleenex just to dab my mouth. My hubby now admits how awful it smelled, so no wonder my acid reflux was terrible. He finally named those wadded up tissue balls, "muffins", and I think he was thankful that my pregnancy was over with too! I love my sweet Brayden Marie and know she blessed our lives for a reason.

She had a bleed to her brain when she was born. The MRI didn't show any major problems, but with an expert physical therapist, we knew something was wrong. Vision, early birth, the bleeding of the brain, delayed fine motor and gross motor skills were very common with premature birth. She was an extremely picky eater also. But her biggest challenge was learning to walk. It was obvious that she walked on her tippy toes, had flat feet, and her feet went inward when she walked. So, that's when we decided to go to Shriner's Hospital, an AMAZING hospital for children. We go to UT twice a year to get x-rays and to make sure her braces are working out well for her. It has been said that someday she may need surgery when she gets older. But it's better to wait while she's growing. Physical therapy and AFO braces are the best thing she can do right now. She has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, which is defined as: a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions, such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking.

She is currently in a mainstream Kindergarten classroom at a public school. She gets therapy during school and outside of school in 4 different areas. She goes to music class for fun, and loves to go see plays. She enjoys reading, making up/reciting stories, and playing on the kindle. She also enjoys the "villains" in fairy tale movies, especially Snow White.

And now...to celebrate this happy girls LIFE!!!! Oh my goodness! How are we going to top this next year! It was the first real birthday party year. We gave her a few options and she truly had an awesome birthday! It was perfect that it landed on Easter weekend too!