Travis' Story

To start the story, I guess you need to know what was happening in my life when I got pregnant. I was 27 years old, and had been dating Troy for almost 3 years when I "accidentally" got pregnant. I found out the first week of November, 1995. It wasn't planned, but it was not unwanted. Well, the first thing he assumed was that I wanted to get married. Well, yes I did, but not because I was pregnant. I wanted him to marry me because he wanted to. So we talked about it and decided to talk about it after the baby was born. I was scared to hear what my father had to say about me being unmarried and pregnant. Boy, did he surprise me. He insisted that I not get married until at least after the baby. Then he told me he wanted a baby girl. Sorry, dad.

Well, things were going just great and I was really enjoying being pregnant. No morning sickness. I went to my doctor on May 21, 1996, for a routine checkup and a sonogram. Well, the doctor was called in for the sonogram and they discussed it for what seemed forever before they told me that they wanted to send me to Woman's Hospital for further testing. All they would tell us was that there was some type of cyst on the baby. Oh yeah, and it was "definitely" a boy. So being very nervous and upset, we went to the hospital. We sat through hours of sonograms and consultations. There was still no definite answers. We were told the cyst could be one of two things. Either a terratoma or myelomeningocele, and that we should hope for the first. (Just to let you know what kind of day this was, you should know that my baby shower was planned for that night.)

So for the next couple of months, we visited and consulted with several doctors to discuss surgery after delivery. I think I called my doctor after every visit to have him explain everything to me again. Well, in June, my blood pressure went up real high and I was admitted to the hospital. Fortunately, it did come down within three days and I was sent home on complete bed rest. The following week, my doctor did an amnio to see if the baby's lungs were mature enough for delivery. They weren't. Reschedule for the next week.

On July 1, 1996, I gave birth to Travis Michael Daigle. He weighed 9 lbs 8 1/2 oz. and was 20 inches long. He was just beautiful to me. Even with this grapefruit-size cyst on his lower back. This is when we found out he had spina bifida. He was immediately taken to NICU and I was brought to my room. The neurosurgeon that would be doing the surgery the following morning came to my room to explain the procedure. Talk about scared.

Well, the next morning rolled around real quick. Travis went into surgery around 7:00am and was in surgery for little over an hour. I couldn't even be in the waiting room with my family. I just stayed in my room by myself and cried, and waited. Then came the word that everything went fine and not as many nerves were in the sac as was originally expected. Travis was put back in NICU. That night was the first night I got to touch Travis. I just sat in a rocking chair on side of his incubator and touched him, crying the whole time. Not a sad cry, but a very glad cry that he was doing so well. I was able to hold him and rock him the next day. What a wonderful day!

Well, I was released from the hospital on Thursday, July 4, 1996, but Travis was there until July 10, 1996. We drove to the hospital at least once daily, a 30 minute drive. Wasn't a bad drive, just hard since I was still recuperating. We had to learn how to catherize him before we could take him home. He would cry the entire time we were doing it. But we did it. We had to. Then we brought him home. On his fourth day home, we were able to stop cathing him. He was going all by himself. Another wonderful day!

Well, since that day, there has been no stopping him. He did not develop hydrocephelus or any other problems related to the spina bifida. If you would see him, you would never know he has spina bifida. We are currently seeing all of his doctors at the clinic every six months for check-ups. They are all pleased with him.

Anyway, that is Travis' story. And mine too. Now, his father and I are split up, but my parents, brother, and his girlfriend make up for it. He doesn't lack for anything. He is so spoiled. But not rotten. He's a very good little boy. He's bright, loves to "read", sing, color, play outside. Everything little boys are supposed to do.

Well, that was what was on my old homepage. I wrote it when he was about 2 or 3 years old and a lot has changed in our lives since then. First thing that happened was that we met Lance. What a blessing that has been. You couldn't ask for a better 'Daddy' than Lance. From the first time he met Travis he has treated him like he was his own. I think I have to give a lot of that credit to Lance's stepfather, Ed, who died just a couple of weeks before we met Lance. Everything I heard about him makes him a great man. I thank him for making Lance the 'Daddy' he is.

Lance and I got married June 26, 1999. We now have a daughter, Alayna, born June 1, 2001. Travis is in Kindergarten and doing wonderfully. Life is good. Now don't get me wrong, there are still problems and worries. But as long as I have my family, I have it all.

Don't forget to check out Travis' pictures.