Nancy (Labrum) Brown

After graduation I spent several years jumping back and forth trying to figure out what to do with myself. I went from UVSC to CEU back to UVSC and then to SLCC. After being so unfocused I thought the best option would be to go on a mission. I was called to the exotic land of Indiana, Indianapolis mission. I served in various areas but spent most of my time on the campus of Ball State University and 9 long and cold months in South Bend at the University of Notre Dame. I also was called to speak Spanish half way through my mission and spent the remainder trying to accomplish what I needed to.

After my mission I moved back to Provo where I finished my associates degree and transferred to Utah state. I have no clue why I ended up going there. My major was not offered but just decided to get half of the requirements out of the way. While there I met my husband Dallas. He lived in Salt Lake and we just happened to find each other on the internet.

We were married in 2005. I transferred to the U of U and studied Childhood development and a certificate to be a child life specialist ( working with sick and hospitalized kids. Ironic huh!) where I surprisingly gave birth 15 weeks early or 94 days early ( yup just like Carly) to a little boy named Tyler. He weighed in at a whopping 1 lb 11 oz and was 13 inches long. He spent exactly 93 days in the hospital and we brought him home one day before his due date on December 24th 2005.

However, unlike Carly we do have a few side effects of prematurity. He has hydrocephalus from brain bleeds. He wears glasses due to a disease of ROP which has hurt his retina. This condtion also caused nystagmus or fast movement of the eyes. He has craniosynostosis, or his soft spots closed up early not leaving his brain any room to grow, which we have had to have several reconstructions of his skull and head to allow it to grow and not put pressure on his brain. In his little life he has endured so much. He has had 7 surgeries and so many doctor visits its hard to keep them straight. He doesn’t walk fully on his own yet but he uses a walker. He has a whole team of therapies including: Speech, occupational and physical therapists and he also gets services from the Foundation for blind children. He is the LOVE of our lives and he is so stinking cute. He is not cognitively delayed so he is as smart as they come. He starts preschool this fall and we are so excited.

We currently live in Mesa Arizona where my husband works for PayPal ( a small internet company you may NOT have heard of) as a senior web developer. He also has his own company as a contracted web developer. I have been a stay at home to Tyler for the last almost 3 years and recently got a VERY part time job to get me out of the house a little more. But I love staying home and being a wife and mom to my little family.

I don’t get home to Emery County to much because of the distance. I do still get the gossip thanks to the Emery County progress, blogs and my sisters. I was hoping to make it back for the reunion but it looks like I am stuck in the cool 115 degree weather of Arizona in August. I hope that I get to see more updates. It has been so fun to see all the blogs on the internet and connect with old friends again. You can keep up on my little family at my blog: http://micropreemie-miracle.blogspot.com/