Felecia Causey's Blog

My name is Antreneciya Brantley, and I am a mother to a terrific 12 year old with Down Syndrome, name Qylan Brantley. When I was about 5 months pregnant I found out that my son would have Down Syndrome, but I did not know the severity of it until he was actually born. It was a rough next four months for me because I didn't know what to expect. With faith and God on my side I believed that He wouldn't put more on me than I could bare. On June 3, 2006, I gave birth to a 7lb 13 oz. baby boy, and when I looked at him, I knew he was just perfect for me. The first year of his life was pretty easy. He crawled and was pulling up on things at the age of 7 months. I thought he would be okay, but the challenge came when he didn't walk until he was about a month shy of his 2nd birthday. I put him in therapy, both physical and occupational to help with his speech. It helped a little but we learn that he would have a speech delay and would not be able to keep up with the regular

Photography By: Felecia Causey I gave birth to my beautiful son David Jermaine Hall in December 2015. When I had him I went through postpartum depression. I was 18 years old and transitioning into a mother while becoming a young adult, but it was all worth it. The bond we had and the joy he gave me, warmed my heart in a way that no one else could. I would’ve never imagined losing him, in such a tragic way, and it just baf fles my mind. I spent everyday with him, and his favorite thing to do was watch Paw Patrol. We were inseparable. October 29,2018, the day I lost him, I felt like I had lost my heart . He was my only child and my life's purpose. He changed my life tremendously. The last 3 years of my life was all about DJ (his nickname). I honestly don't even know how to live without him. It feels as if I have to find myself again, find something that makes me happy. I know all my joy was in him, so I have to find my strength, because all the m

Photography By: Felecia Causey On July 24th,  I never knew how much my life was about to change, I became a mom and nurse all in the same day!   A few minutes after Genoa was born, he was airlifted to a children's hospital. We did get a chance to hold him for a few minutes, before he was taken off by the helicopter. Motherhood was starting off rough for me . They didn't allow anyone to fly with him, and I had to stay behind and begin my recovery process. I felt guilty and felt like I sucked as a mother. I wanted to be with my son, hold him, love on him, see who he look like, and experience skin to skin with him. I couldn't sleep at all that night. I remember praying over and over "Father God please protect and cover my son".   Genoa was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate.  Most people think clefts only affect kids in a third world country, but it's so common in the U.S.  Clefts can be genetic and in some cases it just happens, no famil

  Photography By: Felecia Causey My name is Sharonda Nicole Thompson, I am a 34 year old single parent with four kids . Growing up as a child , and through my teenage years, I was very sickly. Since ,the doctors never knew what my diagnosis were, there were always tests. They continued to tell me everything was normal, but we all knew that wasn’t right. My family and I knew something was wrong, but we just didn’t know what it was.  Well in 2001, I became pregnant with my first child and had a few complications throughout the pregnancy. The morning of March 19,2002, I was prepared to give birth,  I had a seizure during the delivery.  I was diagnosed with having fibrosis seizures, (which are silent seizures).  After giving birth I was in ICU for monitoring.    Well, I became pregnant again at the end of 2002, with my second child. There were not many complications, but I was still having problems, but the doctor nor I  still didn’t know what was actually going on. I ke

Photography By: Felecia Causey Tra’Darius “Mook” DeRAmus was the youngest of my three children. He attended a local middle school, where he was a great and attentive student. One of his favorite hobbies was playing videogames.  He always would stay to himself and didn’t have many friends. In his fourteenth year of childhood, he met his first friend. This friend and him started hanging out after school, although I was never comfortable with this young man or trusted him.  One day after school, my son left with this young man and he never returned home.  Losing my child, my only son at 14 years old, has changed my life drastically. I noticed it and so did the people around me.  I’ve heard that the greatest loss a human can experience, is the loss of a child. THIS IS TRUE!! It doesn't just change you, it demolishes you.   The strongest person in the world, is a grieving mother, that wakes up and keeps going everyday.  My son and I were very close. When I m

  Featuring:Adrian Dunklin Photography: Felecia Causey My name is Adrian Dunklin. In 2012, I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis. It’s a chronic lung disease that turns your body against itself basically.  I never knew I had this disease because I was so full of life! I beat the odds of conceiving and gave birth to my first daughter. I began to feel as though I couldn’t breathe one day so I decided to finally get up and go to the doctor. Upon my examination, my doctor informed me that I have what she believed to be a collapsed lung. I was sent to the hospital. I was placed in ICU for four days.  I then had to see the lung specialist because it wasn’t a collapse lung, but rather I had lymph nods the size of golf balls in my chest and lungs. After being discharged two weeks later I was scheduled to have a lung biopsy. I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis. I started out with only steroids because my disease can only be treated and controlled, not cured. I cried daily and continued to ask God

Photography By:Felecia Causey Featuring Riketa Johnson M y name is Riketa Johnson, and I was born and raised in Montgomery, Al. I have traveled and lived in many places, but Montgomery will always be my home. I have been in a relationship for over four years.  I have been through a whole lot in my life.  In January 2014, I went to my gynecologist for my annual check up, I was sent to do blood work, and all my usual tests. A week went by when I received a call from my doctor's nurse to inform me that my pap test came back abnormal . It was very unusual so, I felt confused and did not know what to do . I knew abnormal meant something was wrong, so I asked what was my next step. The nurse told me that she could not discuss it over the phone,  but I would need to come in to speak with her as soon as possible. I went into the doctor's office that next day and she explained to me that I would need to have a test done on my cervix. The test would help determine why my re