Read below as Ty’s mother, Amy, shares his journey!
I was diagnosed with PCOS by REACH, so we traveled the road of infertility. After many rounds of self injections and medications it was time for our IUI. We had to wait 12 days to take a test, so on the 12th day, which was Mothers day 2016, we had a positive home test. Yay! My pregnancy was difficult from the get go. We had lost Tys twin very early on, I had hyperemesis, Ty had IUGR, and I had preeclampsia. I spent 3 weeks on bed rest in the hospital.
After several appointments with Maternal fetal medicine, we knew that Ty was not going to be a full term baby. My blood pressure continued to rise despite iv meds. We hoped we could make it to at least 30 weeks, but at 27 weeks and 5 days, Ty had different plans.
My delivery was anything but routine. Around midnight on October 22, 2016, Ty began to be distressed. I was rushed over to labor and delivery and had to call my husband to quickly come to the hospital. I began to have severe pain in my right side, blood pressure spiked, and my platelets dropped. I had developed HELLP syndrome and was very sick. I was then rushed to the OR for an emergency c-section. I was scared, anxious, cold and relieved all at the same time. My husband was with me when at 4:01 a.m. on October 22, 2016 Ty Adam was born at 27 weeks 5 days, weighing in at 1 lb 8oz and 13 inches long. I was not able to see him for several days because of HELLP syndrome. But he did cry when he came out so that was a sigh of relief.
When I was able to see him I was in disbelief that this little miracle was our son. I spent about a week in the hospital so I was able to see Ty anytime I wanted. My employer was so understanding that I was able to take a leave of absence and not have to worry about work. My husband decided to go back to work and take his time off when Ty would come home. Everyday we would go to the NICU together and spend the day with him.
The NICU rollercoaster is a crazy ride. We had several times when Ty had blood infections, urinary tract infections, and what they thought was Hirshbrungs disease. During the first “brady” episode Ty had, I had a complete meltdown. I was reassured this is normal and prepared for it to happen often.
Let’s talk about the nurses and Doctors in the NICU, simply put…they are Angels! I had to put all my trust into them and know that they were doing exactly what was needed for Ty. I felt like Ty has lots of “moms” who cared for him as if he was their own. The doctors saved my son and for that I’m forever grateful! We still have relationships with several of his nurses.
Ty had bilateral inguinal hernias that needed to be surgically repaired before discharge. We met with the surgeon and felt relief after he reassured us he had worked on neonates smaller than Ty. The surgery was quick and successful, but the recovery was not. Ty was given morphine for pain and this caused him to go into respiratory distress. Watching your child being bagged by a RT is never easy. That was the discovery of his allergy to morphine. The next day it was like nothing ever happened.
Graduation day was bittersweet! We were finally going to be a complete family at home, but we were not going to have our nurses or docs to help if something happened. Ty went home at a whopping 5 lbs and on a heart monitor. The monitor gave us peace of mind, and we were pros with the brady episodes. We didn’t allow anyone to visit our home for a very long time. It’s just my husband and Ty and myself who reside in Charlotte. All of our family still lives up North, so we went through all of this by ourselves.
Ty received months of PT, OT, and speech therapy. We never thought he would grasp walking, but here he is now running and playing soccer.
These days Ty goes to preschool a couple days a week where he excels in his class. No one believes how he started out in life. Ty is the most loving and energetic little boy. I have gone back to work, but still get to raise our little miracle.
Anyone going through this difficult time, just hang on. Do not ever give up hope because these tiny little miracles surprise us all. Make friends with the other parents because they are in the same boat. We have made life long friends with several families and get to see their miracles grow up! Be prepared for good days and be even more prepared for bad days, but don’t ever give up hope!
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