The story of Braylon’s fight begins on August 18th, 2010. We started the day like any other day. I was on maternity leave and my husband was home on leave as well. We were celebrating the birth of our son, our second child. He was now five days old. He was born on August 13th, 2010. 8 lbs, 15 oz, big baby. Big healthy baby, or so we thought. It was the morning of the 18th and we were outside talking to a neighbor and decided to come in and get ready for the day as we were going to take our two year old daughter for her first hair cut. That is when my cell phone rang. I don’t remember who it was, it is funny when your whole world changes some things are a little blurry. The call I believe was a Physican from our peditrician’s office, indicating that the MDH (the MN department of health) had contacted them that Braylon had a positive new born screen. I remember the second night in the hospital, after he was born, they took a drop of blood from his heel, that would be used for the screen, and never gave it a second thought. The person on the phone said they suspected Citrullinemia. I had never heard of it, I thought maybe this was good, I listend furthur as she asked me how Bralyon was doing? I said he’s good, he’s eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, etc. She asked if he was awake? I answered, yes, that he was actually looking right at me as I was on the phone. The woman on the phone, proceeded that she was glad otherwise she would send an ambulance, as Braylon needed to be seen right away, and that the Doctors would be waiting for us at the UMN emergency. My breath caught back and the tears started to flood my face as I processed what she had said, nothing made sense, he was fine, my baby was fine, I have no idea what this woman is talking about. I handed the phone to my husband as somewhere in my tears I lost my voice, I couldn’t speak, what was there to say, they are waiting for us at the Emergency room? what did that mean? And so our story begins.
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Braylon's Life Blog 
Keep writing, it is so cathartic and if you want it to be, a wonderful resource for parents that find themselves in the same place as you today…or tomorrow…or until we find a cure. Keep writing, I’m listening!! (and cheering for Braylon!)
Mindy
Amazing! Amazing that you have the strength to write while it’s so fresh. I applaud you. On August 18, 2010 while Braylon was coming into the world, my son, David was in surgery . He had a liver transplant to “cure” his citrullinemia. I have just started blogging myself. Good luck to you and your family.
Amy
My granddaughter was also born with this disease and your blog sounds very familiar. My daughter has been through much of what you experienced in your first two posts. Her baby is now 5 weeks old and we have so many questions. Her concern at the moment is what do children with this disease eat as they get past the bottle stage? She is still so little. I pray that we will have her with us for a long time but I guess no one knows what the future holds.
It can be very scary in the beginning, that is for sure. My first piece of advice would have a G-tube out in if you haven’t already. That makes meds to do so easy. May it comfort you to know my own is thriving and nothing but “normal”! It may because his form is “milder” or because we are diligent and consistent with his regulation. The diet question is hard as every kid is different. Fruits and veggies are great low protein foods and there are companies that sell low protein foods that insurance will help with. Trader joes, wholes foods etc are great. They are mostly like a vegan. Our son eats turkey dogs, chickens nuggets, some regular cheese, just not straight protein like chicken breast or red meat. Please email any questions you may have, and hang in there, these kids can do wonderfully and my son is living proof😊. My email is: dr.woodward@yahoo.com