Never Give Up

My middle child was born with brachial plexus palsy. You wouldn't know it unless you see him do certain things. Many people have no idea what this is, so I will just go ahead and tell you what BPP is. 

Brachial plexus palsy:

Brachial plexus palsy is a condition that occurs when the brachial plexus nerves are damaged, resulting in weakness or paralysis in the arm. The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that run from the neck to the arm, allowing the shoulder, arm, and hand to move and feel.

All of the yellow string-like things you see, those are the nerves. When when they are stretched out, they are not like a rubber band that just snaps back into place. So how did this happen to my middle child? I will tell you.

If you read about my oldest who was born early, he will still at a "normal" full term weight. I just knew I would have big kids at full term. And boy was I right!

As my pregnancy progressed, I was feeling a certain way that I might just need a cesarean because I was afraid he would be too big and get stuck. That's what A LOT of moms think and feel, but unfortunately they are not listened to! When a mom says she is using her gut feeling, AND shes pregnant, please trust that! 

It was two weeks before I was to give birth and I pleaded with my doctor to give me a cesarean. He was very hesitant to as they didn't do those procedures unless there was fair reason. Just because it looked like my son was big, AKA I WAS HUGE, didn't mean he was going to be, according to my doctor. 

After telling him my concerns and that it just didn't feel right to have my son not with a cesarean, he ordered an ultrasound so we could see exactly how much he weighed. 

I lie you not, when the doctor said how much my son weighed two week before he was born, I did not believe him. There had to be something off with the measurements. My son did not weigh only 7 or 8 pounds! If my oldest was already that, being born early, my middle child was not going to be small by any means, I just knew it. 

(above photo) Two weeks before birth.

Fast forward two weeks later. The labor and delivery was quite traumatic. My epidural didn't work until he was FINALLY pushed out, he was that big. The doctor started to get concerned because my son literally got stuck, what I was afraid of. The nurses had to push down on my belly as I was pushing just to get the big guy out. 

Well, he most definitely was NOT going to be under 9 lbs. A whopping 10lbs 10oz! 

He was not able to move his arm up and down nor move his hand, he was only able to move his fingers. If you look at the photo below, you can see one arm is straight while the other has been moving. 

At two weeks old, he started physical therapy. I was so concerned that he might not get full function. Any parent would feel this way and start to think about the future of "what-ifs." What if he cannot work a demanding job? What if during school he gets made fun of? What if he cannot play sports?

At about 6 months of age, he FINALLY was able to lift his arm straight up from laying down and pull it over his head! PROGRESS!!!!!!!! I have a video of it and every time I come across it, I remember that feeling in that moment of how he would be okay. 

As he grew, he had physical therapy up until age of 6. He also had multiple injection shots in the muscle behind the shoulder bone to try to loosen up how tight the muscles had gotten for years. 

He had to learn to pick up cups, toys, plates.......pretty much anything, without his hand being upside down. 

Fast forward to this past summer, at age 12.