Mandy’s Story

My husband and I tried to get pregnant for three years before finally deciding to seek help with fertility treatments. We were lucky enough to get pregnant soon after. When that sweet bundle of much wanted baby was seven months old, we were shocked to find out we were pregnant again—this time on our own. We were thrilled beyond belief. Our prayers had been answered.

My pregnancy was easy. Everything went perfect. I really wanted to go into labor naturally this time and that wish came true. The night of May 20, 2019, after taking a warm Epsom salt bath, my contractions started. By 10:00pm I knew they were real. We got to the hospital just before midnight. 

I told the doctors I would need an epidural as soon as possible. Once I was in the bed I was already at eight centimeters, and my water broke shortly after. That was it. No epidural. It was push time. I pushed and pushed and pushed. Finally, at 6:56am Brady Wynn entered the world. He didn’t have a soft spot, but everyone was sure it was because of my extensively long labor. We came home from the hospital when he was two days old, and all seemed well.

Fast forward two weeks. We had taken Brady to the doctor three times for excessive crying. Inconsolable crying. He would cry, sleep from exhaustion, and repeat. My husband and I knew something was not right. I brought him to a lactation consultant and chiropractor trying to do anything to help my baby. The chiropractor noticed he still didn’t have a soft spot present. 

Finally, when he was not even three weeks old, we took him to the ER at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. He somehow spiked a fever which got him admitted. Two spinal taps later we were on a wild ride to find out what was wrong. My cousin finally spoke up to the doctor and mentioned I was worried about his head. They did a CT. This revealed that his brain was very, very tiny, and the frontal lobe was not made of normal brain tissue. The next day he got an MRI which confirmed the initial results. His frontal lobe was replaced by cysts of CSF. Nobody there had ever seen a brain like our Brady’s. 

His scans were sent to other hospitals around the country, but nobody had any idea what could have caused this. We do not have any answers as to why Brady was born the way he was. We had full genome sequencing done on him, myself, and my husband and found out nothing more.

He fought for five and a half months, sometimes doing better than others. In his short life he had one other hospital stay. His little body metabolized medications incredibly quick, so we would find something that worked and then few days later be back where we started. Brady passed away peacefully in my arms surrounded by my husband after ten days on hospice. His last days on earth were filled with snuggles, warm baths with mama, and tons of love. Brady was most definitely held 99% of his life. God has surrounded us with a huge support system, and that became even more obvious during Brady’s life. We are truly blessed.   

The Lord taught me more through Brady’s five months of life than I have learned in my entire 35 years on this planet. My faith was tested, but even when I would shout and yell at God, I felt Him near me. We suffered a miscarriage seven months after Brady passed and again I found myself upset with God—just thinking that life isn’t fair. Once again, I felt the Lord near me. Without faith I truly do not know how I would have survived this.  

We ended up with another new blessing on May 19, 2021. Brady’s little brother, Logan, was born two days before Brady would have turned two. This pregnancy was not like the others. I was terrified, but my hope got me through. Hope and faith. I now have a very special relationship with God, the communication is always open. I speak to God often throughout the day. I now live my life in a different way, and am happier now than ever before. I may never know why things happened the way they did, but I am so grateful to have been chosen to be Brady’s mother. 

Hello, my name is Mandy. I am a Hope Momma to a beautiful baby boy named Brady Wynn who left us at five months old. Brady taught me how to stretch my love from here on earth all the way up to heaven and has truly taught me how to find joy every single day. I may never understand why things happened how they did, but I am so grateful to have been chosen to be his mama.

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