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bblack

@briablack_

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| inspiring you to experience something new
| minneapolis, mn
| follow me on tiktok @briablack7
let’s collab tho: [email protected]

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This was the coolest, most unique event I’ve been to in a longggg time. As a foodie who loves fresh and fun flavors, @blacktothefarm was RIGHT up my alley!

I got a chance to meet real black farmers that contribute to food systems in Minnesota - including Krista of @zafawines (because farming grapes for wine is still farming!!!)

Thank you @chefraspberry and @llcooljhae for bringing this vision to life! I can’t wait to do it again 😋

#BlackMN #BlackCommunityMSP #MinneapolisEvents #ThingsToDoInMSP #twincitiesfoodie taken in Minneapolis, Minnesota by @briablack_

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2 days ago

I didn’t know who I married on my wedding day.

I found out who I married in year 9: The toughest year yet.

The year my body shut down.
The year I didn’t know if I would survive.
The year I didn’t know my son would survive.
The year I sobbed uncontrollably.
The year I found out I married the best dad in the whole world.
The year my heart expanded 10 times.

Nine years ago, On October 7th, when you said in sickness and in health… you made sure we knew you meant it. by @briablack_

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5 days ago

Is it too early to start counting down to Thanksgiving, Cousin? 😂🍂 Good thing Sweet Potato Pie season starts NOW. 😉🍠 @briablack_ , we’re right there with you! 🫶🏽 by @briablack_

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10 days ago

I go back to work in a little over a month and I need HELP.
What’s your experience been like with childcare? What advice or reccomendations can you give me? I have no family here and I don’t have plans to quit working. What should I do? 🫠

I feel like I wouldn’t even be in this predicament if Minnesota established some type of Childcare for all initiative 😭

#childcareforall #mothethoodjourney #momtips taken in Minneapolis, Minnesota by @briablack_

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16 days ago

Motherhood isn’t exactly what I thought it would be… I thought I wouldn’t like it.

Turns out, it’s better than I would have imagined. I just knew those late nights - when I’m dog tired - waking up to a baby would make me resentful and angry. Instead, when I pick my son up and see him smiling at me in the light of the morning showing every inch of his gums, I think to myself, “who needs sleep when I have this view” 🥹

#motherhoodjourney #lifeafternicu by @briablack_

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a month ago

THANK YOU GOD.

After 170 days in the NICU, my baby is finally home.

The doctors warned us that he might not make it out alive.

The doctors warned us that he may not be able to breathe on his own.

The doctors warned us that he may not be able to eat on his own.

My son is able to do every single thing doctors warned us he may not be able to do - AND MORE.

He has left his doctors and nurses and therapists in awe over and over and over. He is my miracle baby and my most favorite testimony.

I truly believe that sharing my story online and having so many people pray for my son made a world of difference. With so many people - both friends and strangers - petitioning God to have mercy on us and heal his body, a miracle had to take place. I want to thank every single person who sent us a prayer or a kind thought.

I’m so excited to love and snuggle this sweet face all day and all night AT HOME. I have never been so grateful and thankful.

#nicu #nicujourney #nicugraduatin by @briablack_

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2 months ago

I thought about canceling the baby shower. Everything was so volatile in the beginning. One day he’s great. The next day he’s not great. I wasn’t sure if I would be in the mood to “celebrate.” I didn’t even have a belly. What kind of baby shower would that be?

But then I thought … you know what. It’s a blessing that we both have made it this far! Let’s party anyway! And we had a beautiful time.

The biggest thank you to my parents for throwing our dream shower. They made sure everything was perfect.

To the BEST decorator on this side of heaven. Thank you for going above and beyond to make sure me and Pat had the best time. You are soooo talented! @customcreationsbyebony

We had the most incredible vendors. Thank you so so much.

& to all of our friends and family that showed up and showed OUT for our baby… thank you for being there.

I’m so so so glad we celebrated our sonshine ☀️💙 by @briablack_

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3 months ago

Having a sick baby in the NICU almost made me stop believing in God.

When he was born, I prayed for my son constantly & I found scriptures that I leaned on to help supplement my faith.

I read about how if you had faith you could move mountains (Matt 17:20)

I read about how a woman who had been sick her whole life touched Jesus, she was healed by faith (Matt 9:20-12)

I read about how a man who was even healed by his friends faith (Mark 2:1-12)

So I just knew all I had to do was have faith and my baby would be healed …. So when the doctors came in our room one day and said “Your son is really sick, we’ve tried a bunch of different things and nothing is working….”

I was like wait.

Why is this happening? I thought I just had to have faith? I pray constantly. Why is he so sick? Is faith not enough? Does God even hear me? Is any of what I’ve been reading even real?

I thought about what would happen if I just gave up and stopped believing in God. I could either have faith or not. I could either choose to have hope or be hopeless.

So I decided to believe despite everything around me telling me that maybe I shouldn’t.

This journey has taught me I need to stop trying to control my life and my son’s life by trying to “earn” healing. 100 prayers a day wasn’t going to result in a prize.

I am learning EVERYTHING is out of my control EXCEPT a positive perspective & a loving presence.

So instead of questioning the past & why I ended up in this place & instead of anxiously awaiting the future and preparing for what’s to come…

I learned to take it day by day.

TODAY my baby is alive

TODAY I believe that he will be healed

TODAY I’m trusting that he will have a good day.

And the days have compounded. In the 135 days we’ve spent in the hospital, we have had far more good days than bad ones.

I still believe that God is healing by baby and keeping him and protecting him. His is testimony is already my favorite!

#nicuwarrior #micropreemie #testimony by @briablack_

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3 months ago

Having a baby in the NICU for almost 5 months has been emotionally, mentally, and physically difficult. My husband and I go to the hospital every single day to spend hours at his bedside. At times, the hospital staff wouldn’t allow us to hold him so all we could do was watch through the incubator windows.

The hardest part is feeling so helpless as our baby gets poked and prodded every day - getting blood transfusions, surgeries, and being pumped with medications to help him live. I am grateful to God that modern medicine has allowed babies to have the support they need after being born so early, but all he really needed was more time inside me and all of this pain would have been avoided.

So as parents we do the only thing we know to do: show up for him every day and pray without ceasing.

#micropreemie #nicu by @briablack_

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3 months ago

“Babies born at 23 weeks have about 30-40% survival rate” is what the doctors kept telling me.

Going into my c section, I was trying to prepare myself that anything could happen. I was praying “God please help me out of here. Please save me”

I felt them tugging on my insides and after a while they raised a tiny baby in the air so that I could see. They said “here is your baby!” and I heard the faintest cry scurry from his lips.

In that moment, a feeling I’ve never felt flooded my entire body. I felt like my heart might explode & I started to sob uncontrollably.

My prayer shifted from “God please save me” to “God, PLEASE save my baby.”

They intubated him immediately so he could breathe - since his lungs weren’t mature enough to do it on their own - and they whisked him away to the NICU.

He was born at just 1 pound 3 ounces - living proof of what the mercy of God can do. Three days later, I got to hold him for the first time ❤️

#pregnancyjourney #micropreemie #nicu by @briablack_

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4 months ago

Everything happened so fast. Exactly 7 days after I “randomly” went to the hospital, I had to decide if I wanted to give my baby a better chance at survival by keeping him in, or give myself the best chance at survival by getting him out

In just 7 days I:
- gained 20 pounds
- saw an even higher increase in blood pressure
- was losing kidney function
- had elevated liver enzymes
- developed HELLP syndrome

The only way to stop this aggressive deterioration of my organs, was to give birth. The only problem was at just 23 weeks, my baby only had a 30-40% survival rate.

I hate that I ever had to be put in a position to have to make a decision like this. My husband said, we’re going to have this C Section and this baby is going to have to fight.

#pregnancyjourney #preeclampsiaawareness #hellpsyndrome #23weekspregnant by @briablack_

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4 months ago

I look back at this video and just shake my head…. If only I had known.

I had every textbook preelampsia symptom & still didn’t believe my body was in distress. I’m just laughing and giggling while I struggled with extremely high blood pressure, headache, chest pain, shortness of breath, swollen feet, and a swollen face.

I didn’t want to believe it because:
- I have always been healthy.
- I was only 22 weeks.
- I had never had high blood pressure
- I thought you just had these symptoms as a pregnant person
- This stuff happens to other people, not me.

Y’all I didnt even want to go to the doctor because I thought my husband, line sister and GOOGLE were being dramatic! You know what’s more dramatic? The doctors coming in my room only SIX DAYS later saying “if you don’t have this baby today, neither one of you may make it out alive”

#pregnancyjourney #preeclampsia #micropreemie by @briablack_

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4 months ago