According to Nadine Shelley, her son Brayden is “the boy who lived.” And after surviving all odds, she’s extremely grateful for her decision to continue with her pregnancy instead of terminating it as her doctors recommended.
“The boy who lived”
Nadine Shelley, a lifelong Harry Potter fan calls her son Brayden “the boy who lived” in reference to the book series’ titular character, who faced overwhelming odds, and survived.
During one of Nadine’s routine ultrasound checkups, it was found that the amniotic fluid protecting her beloved child was leaking and “He could be born with severe mental and physical disabilities. He would most likely be born blind, if he was born at all,” she added.
The risks to Brayden were so severe, her doctor recommended that she terminate the pregnancy as Brayden had “no chance of living” and would have a “painful quality of life” even if he survived. The pregnancy would also pose a huge risk to Nadine. However, she kept remembering the story of Harry Potter, and how his mother’s love saved him. So she and her husband decided to go through with the pregnancy, even with all the risks involved.
Nothing short of a miracle
Eventually, Brayden was born at only 28 weeks. In comparison, women usually give birth at around 40 weeks. This meant that Brayden was born very prematurely, and he had to be placed in the ICU.
When Brayden took his first breath of air, one of his lungs burst, which caused him to go into heart failure. He was placed in the incubator for 2 weeks, and Nadine felt so miserable since she was unable to even touch her beloved child. She could only watch as the incubator kept her son alive.
2 weeks after, she was able to finally hold her son’s hand. “It was the best feeling of my life,” Nadine shared.
As the days went by, Brayden started to slowly recover, and he was becoming stronger. After 76 days in the hospital, they were finally able to come home with their son. It was nothing short of a miracle.
Now, Brayden has just celebrated his first birthday, a year after being told that he wouldn’t survive, and even if he did manage to survive, his life would be in so much pain, and he would have numerous defects and illnesses. But Brayden proved them all wrong. His mother was right, he truly is “the boy who lived.”
Source: babble.com
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