Tyler's Story
My husband and I decided to try to have
another child when our daughter,
Megan, was 2 yr. old. I was thrilled that
I got pregnant after just a couple of
months of trying. I was sick in the
beginning, which was different from
my first pregnancy, but I still was
excited about another baby. I thought
it would be our last child. We thought
we only wanted two children.
At 20 weeks I wanted to know the sex
of the baby so I had an ultrasound,
that was Wed., Dec. 19, 1996. We were
so excited I was having a boy his
name would be Tyler Sanderson Sargent.
Tyler's middle name is my husband's
middle name and I wanted him to have
part of his father's name. Well the
excitement of finding out it was a
boy was short lived. I was told I had
a lot to extra amniotic fluid. I asked
what did that mean and was told
it could mean nothing but we want
you to have a level 2 ultrasound. So the
next day my husband and I drove the
hour up to New Haven to have the
ultrasound. I spent an unbelievable
3 hours there. First we were told he had
Down's Syndrome and then he had
something wrong with his heart. I was
prepared to have an amniocentesis; I
didn't even know what was going on.
I went there just to have an
ultrasound then all of a sudden they
were preparing me for the amino.
I didn't even have time to ask questions.
My head was spinning. We left there
and had to wait four days for the results.
I was so scared to answer the phone so
I never stayed home. When the call came
just one week before Christmas the
good news was that he was genetically
fine. I was so relieved I went to see Ted,
he was at the building site, we were in
the process of building our house. Well
need less to say he was very excited
that everything was OK he fell down
the ladder, spraining his ankle.
I was to be followed at Yale for the
pregnancy because of the extra fluid.
They gave me every possible test and
we were told different diagnosis.
Every time we went I was told
something different. We were getting
very discouraged. At 22 weeks things
with Tyler started to deteriorate
and fluid started building up in
his lungs. They decided to wait
and see what happens. At my next
appointment the fluid was gone,
I was so relieved. I thought to myself
finally things were going OK.
It didn't last long because the next
week the fluid was back but on the
other side. I didn't know what to think.
We had to go up to Yale twice a week
at that point and slowly
things deteriorated. The amniotic fluid
increased and the fluid in his lungs
had gone to both sides by now. They
scheduled me to have the fluid removed
from his lungs and to drain some
fluid from me. I was given no
sedation as they started sticking
needles into my abdomen. The
contractions started again but they
were not concerned. After the
procedure, which was unsuccessful,
they were unable to remove the
fluid from Tyler, he was moving
too much. The contractions stopped
and I was sent home to return again
in three days to check things out. I
was scheduled to have the procedure
repeated so the next two weeks the
fluid was checked almost daily. The day
finally came when I needed to be
drained again and Tyler needed the
fluid removed. So the procedure was
repeated this time with pain medication,
which sedated Tyler and me. So the
fluid was able to be removed from both
lungs and 2 liters was taken from me.
The first time I lost 4 lb. in one day. I had
to find some humor if not I would have
gone crazy. They gave me something to
stop the contractions. Before being
discharged I had a repeat ultrasound.
GOODNEWS the lungs re-inflated,
finally something positive.
I was scheduled to return in 2 days
to check the progress, This was
Feb 9, 1996, I had gotten to 29 wks. by then.
I was told the fluid had returned in
his lungs and myself. I asked what that
meant and they said they would
probably have to repeat the procedure.
They kept reassuring us that he
would be OK. I asked how many times
can they repeat the procedure and
was told they would continue doing it
until I went into labor. They told us
that they would probably have to
induce at 35 weeks. I was scheduled
to have the fluid removed on Wed.
Feb 14, 1996. I didn't get a chance
to have the procedure repeated. On Monday
Feb. 12 they noticed the fluid had gotten
worse it was now in Tyler's abdomen and
he had slowed down. He was always
so active, that's why I thought he
would be OK. They decided to do an
emergency C-Sec. I was so scared
I was only 29 weeks pregnant but
again I was reassured he would
make it. My husband was given a
tour of NICU and I was prepped. We
were told he would be intubated, to help
him breath due to the immature lungs,
he would also have chest tubes but
he would be ALIVE! So when I was told
he didn't make it I couldn't believe it they
had to have made a mistake. I went
into shock. My husband started crying
and then I realized we had lost him.
I fought so hard to keep him alive and I
lost him. How could God let that happen.
They never found a cause for the
hydrops, that was the condition he
developed on Mon. Feb. 12, 1996. His
birthday and the day he died. I miss
him every minute of everyday and I
still ask why. I love him so much it
hurts and I will always have a special
place in my heart with Tyler's name
on it. Thanks for reading about my
very special angel, who one day
will be reunited with his family. Until
that day my love for him grows.
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