Brittle Bitty - "Watch Me Nae Nae"

On September 10, 2015, I posted this random video of my daughter, Breanna, dancing in her car seat to the popular song "Watch Me" by Silento, which she absolutely loves because she loves to dance. The video started to go viral almost immediately. The next day, I posted a picture of Breanna in the hospital with a cast on each of her legs.



That picture initiated some hurtful criticism from people who do not know me or my baby.  However, the support and love of family who do know me and my child have encouraged me to allow Breanna's happy moment to educate others about the back-story of the irony between her precious car seat dance video and the painful picture of her two broken legs the next day.

Breanna is the happiest baby you could ever imagine. Yet, she was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily (i.e. brittle bones), often from little or no apparent cause. Most people who have seen the video do not even notice the cast on her left arm, which she broke while rolling on me. The day after the video, she was in her crib asleep; and I was in asleep when I was awakened by her horrific screams. I looked my daughter over but could not tell where she was hurting. I immediately rushed her to the hospital where they determined that both of her legs were broken.

This is the life I live, a single parent with three children. Breanna is the only one of my children who has this "brittle bones" condition.  She has had more than 15 fractures and she's only 21 months old. She has to have treatments and eventually surgery, but she will never grow out of this condition. It's a struggle but I wouldn't trade her beauty and personality for the world.  My day to day goal it just preventing breaks and, now, creating awareness about osteogenesis imperfecta.

So why a GoFundMe campaign? Aren't there programs and subsidies that help me with her medical expenses. Yes! Medicaid and Social Security. But if you know anything about these assistance programs, I cannot get this assistance while holding a job. It's a catch 22 for Breanna, not me, though.

My baby gives me more in one glance than I will ever be able to give her in a lifetime. If, though her video, she brings you any joy at all, consider helping me give joy back to her in some normal way of a mother raising a child each day. Nothing will stop her from dancing, and she will always smile at you with the happiest face, no matter what.

God bless you all, and thank you for blessing me with your viral views of the video. It really makes me happy.