My Life in a Nutshell.

We will start when I was 12. I was diagnosed with Juvenile diabetes. When I was 16 I developed an eating disorder, now known as diabulimia. google it. I had bouts of Ketoacidosis and almost died a couple of times. Finally went blind in March of 2002 when I was 19 and was admitted to Vanderbilt for quite awhile. Went home and was admitted to a mental hospital 3 months later. Best Line Ever: "you are clearly not suicidal, but self-destructive." Dr. Macademia. Went to rehab that November and got real help. I've had slips, but have been on the right path for most of the time.

Met my first husband, dated and got married January 8th, 2005. We decided that marriage wasn't for us and divorced February 2006. It was a mutual decision. I don't have any hostility towards him.

Met my soul mate March of 2006. We married in May 2006. Got pregnant with Nate in July 2006.

Pregnancy + Traci = bad. very very bad. I was admitted into the hospital for a total of 26 weeks out of 32. And not at once. I would be admitted for 3 or 4 days and be discharged for 3 or 4. Due to dehydration from constant nauscea and vomitting. I developed preaclampsia at 32 weeks and Nathaniel Alexander was born by Emergency c-section on February 9th, 2007. He was 18 in. long and weighed 5lbs. 7.5 oz. He had a 7 day stay in NICU and was released. I am so very blessed to have a healthy child, especially when I was so sick with him.

Got pregnant with Abby December of 2007. Cried for 3 days, but pregnancy was normal until 28 weeks. Then I got as sick as I did with Nate and was admitted to the hospital where I was put on a fetal monitor. I was placed on a morphine drip (it hurts to throw up so much and so often). I was given IV phenegrin and zofran for the nauscea and vomitting. It didn't work. At 29 weeks they asked that I speak with Perinatologist. We spoke, she said that she thought my body didnt like pregnancy hormones and wanted to try a steroid cocktail that would trick my body into thinking it wasnt pregnant anymore. But it proposed a high risk of damage, such as... heart damage, kidney damage, liver damage, blood clots, stroke, heart attack, etc... remember I already have organ damage from my diabetes + eating disorder.

But we tried it. The way it would work is we would start off with a high dosage of the steroids for 3 days. And we would taper down to a lower dose for 3 days. And then taper down again, and it would continue like that until the baby was born.

It worked. First 3 days were great, and then the first day of the taper down, I got violently ill... again... went to the hospital... again... Was admitted... again. They ran an endoscopy and noticed that my esaphagus was tearing and gave me 2 options. Continue on the steroid treatment or Deliver. They recommended delivering. He said that because of all the steroids I had already taken that he thought she was developed enough to be born.

On June 21, 2008, Abigail Faith was born 10 weeks premature. She was 15 in. long and weighed 2lbs. 10.25 oz. And altho very small, she was born healthy. And after a 6 week stay in NICU, we were able to bring her home.

That's my life in a nutshell.