They say it goes fast, but this past year went by way too fast.  How is it that I have a one year old son? It seems like just yesterday I was walking into the hospital to be induced, wondering what kind of mother I would be.  What challenges were we going to have?

It didn’t take long for me to find out what type of mother I was, or to accept the type of mother I was.  I wanted to be the best possible mother for Brody that I could be.

I can tell you that I am the type of mother who makes mistakes. I’m the type of mother who gave a lot, but could have given more.  I am the type of mother who thought about her son, but also thought about what impact this would have on her too.  I am the type of mother that thinks “She knows best”, when it comes to taking advice from medical professionals.  I’m the type of mother that wants her son to be included.

We were challenged this year.

We were challenged with ignorance.  “Different” scares people.  They ask questions and point fingers because they aren’t comfortable.  We overcame ignorance.  We were challenged with Brody’s development.  Brody’s anatomy didn’t allow him to gain weight or to get adequate nutrition.  Brody became frustrated when it was time to eat, which lead to my frustration.  Brody took longer to do some “normal” baby things.  It was hard to answer “no” when his nurses or pediatrician would ask if he was hitting these simple milestones that other children around his age were hitting.