When 29-year-old Tess Frame got pregnant with her third son, she had no idea how much her life would change. Not only was she expanding her family by one, but she was unknowingly heading into a horrifying life-changing experience that would forever change the way she looked at healthcare and her own well-being.
Moral of the story: If doctors tell you not to worry, but your body says otherwise, trust your instincts...
A Horrifying Ordeal
Getting sick while pregnant can be extremely scary. When Tess Frame came down with the flu in her third trimester, all of her doctors told her to take it easy and rest. Unfortunately, this led to a myriad of other issues...
The Third Trimester
Tess was 34 weeks pregnant when she started getting flu-like symptoms. Despite getting the flu shot, her pregnancy had weakened her immune system and she came down with a nasty case. What started as the flu left her in a scary and unpredictable coma for weeks on end...
Tess and Her Family
Conrad and Tess had been married for nine years before they got pregnant with their third child. They already had two baby boys who were the spitting image of their dad. Tess announced that she was pregnant in September of 2018. Her family and friends were ecstatic to hear the news, but no one knew what horrors were in store for the family…
Active Family
The family of four (and counting) loved to travel, and Tess didn’t let her pregnancy stop her. They traveled all over the country, from hiking in Zion National Park to playing in the ocean. Tess always posted about her adventures with her family so that people could follow along. People are invested in her life, even during difficult times…
The Good and The Bad
Influencers usually share their hardships and how they overcame them (if they did) in order to get people to rally behind them. Unfortunately, Tess and her family came across a difficult situation early on in her pregnancy. This would be the catalyst for more issues to come...
25 Week Update
After two weeks of silence, Tess opened up to her followers with a scary update. She shared an ultrasound picture of her unborn son with a scary message attached. At 18 weeks, they found out that she had velamentous cord insertion, which meant that the baby’s umbilical cord was attached to the placenta in the wrong place. This diagnosis usually ends in a stillbirth...
They Will Overcome
Even though it was a scary diagnosis, all hope was not lost. As long as she was closely monitored, her doctors told her that everything would be fine. Most would assume this also meant that her doctors would keep a close watch on her and take her seriously if she reported any other ailments throughout her pregnancy, but, she revealed, that was not the case…
33 Weeks Pregnant
Tess posted a 33-week selfie when things were still normal with her. “Feeling ready!” she wrote. “Sleep is getting harder. So are climbing stairs and sitting upright and changing positions and even eating.” She was nesting and getting ready for baby #3, but she had no idea that next week would be the worst week of her life…
Getting Sick
In late February of 2019, Tess came down with the flu. Flu season is tough for everyone, but people with at-risk pregnancies usually suffer the most. When she got the flu, her doctors told her to stay hydrated and to get some rest. So, that’s exactly what she did, but things only got worse...
Getting Worse
In just a few days her health worsened. Since she was pregnant, her uterus was swollen and crowding her lungs. Her lungs couldn’t expand enough to allow her to cough productively. She was coughing and coughing, but it was only making things worse. After a couple of days of coughing, she pulled a muscle in her abdomen...
Constant Pain
Now, she was sick, pregnant, and in constant pain. Coughing made her abdomen pain worse, so her natural response was to try and suppress her cough. After feeling worse and worse, she went into urgent care hoping for some medicine. Unfortunately, that wouldn't help...
Heading to Urgent Care
In pain, tired, and very sick, Tess went into urgent care only to be dismissed. “The doctor wrote me off,” she said. He told her to take a couple of pregnancy-safe over-the-counter meds and wait a few days. That was basically a death sentence...
Days Passed
Going by the doctor’s orders, she rested for a few days while her symptoms only got worse. She couldn’t lay down because then she couldn’t breathe. She was extremely lethargic and couldn’t stay awake for more than a couple of hours at a time. Soon after, she wasn’t even able to speak and was barely conscious.
The Contractions Begin
When she was 36 weeks pregnant, she began to feel contractions. Since this was her third pregnancy, she knew that these were the real deal. Her husband called the hospital, and they told her to wait it out and drink some water. They knew that wasn’t good enough, so they went to the hospital...
Emergency C-Section
When she got to the hospital, the doctors there knew that something was horribly wrong. They put her under general anesthesia and intubated her. She gave birth to her son, Thomas, while she was unconscious by c-section. Her struggles were far from over…
The Aftermath
Even though Thomas was born, Tessa remained sedated. "I was in lung failure, suffering from pneumonia which had turned septic, and my body was shutting down. I had various strep and staph infections caused by influenza, and Tommy was rushed to the children’s hospital under quarantine to be checked and monitored for eight days to make sure he didn’t have all the same infections I had."
Tough on the Family
Conrad had to split his time between two hospitals because mother and baby were in different hospitals to get more specialized care. After a few days, he was able to bring Thomas home, but Tess remained unconscious. When things took an even worse turn, she had to move hospitals…
Moving Around
The hospital that Tess was in was too small and unequipped to handle her extremely delicate situation, so she had to be transferred. It wasn’t going to be easy, though. She was so unstable that she needed to be transferred within a firm 10-minute window. If it took any longer, she could die...
Racing Against the Clock
She had to be flown via helicopter to one of the best hospitals in the nation. Thankfully, that was only a five-minute flight. She had to be transferred between multiple beds in order to stay alive. Luckily, the team that was tasked with taking care of her were absolute pros, and the transfer went off without a hitch. Now, the real healing could begin...
Slowly Waking Up
It took a while, but she was finally coming to. She was expectedly confused and had no idea what was going on. She was scared of the people who were there to help her and felt violated and angry. The worst part was, she still thought she was still pregnant…
The Reality
"I was relieved to be safe in the hospital, and relieved to feel the bump on my belly which meant my baby was still with me," she said. That’s when her nurses had to tell her that she had her baby over two weeks ago. Even though they told her that he was happy and healthy, she didn’t believe them. She thought something terrible had happened to him...
Waking Up Some More
They transferred her to high-flow oxygen, which helped her brain wake up more. Unfortunately, that airflow was too much for her and she began breathing through her mouth. By doing that, she started suffocating and coded multiple times. Her oxygen levels tanked, and she had to be re-sedated and re-intubated. After that happened a few times, the doctors had to make a difficult decision…
Getting a Tracheotomy
After coding a few times, the doctors agreed that giving her a tracheotomy would be the best thing to do in order to ensure her survival. For people who undergo tracheotomy surgery, they lose the ability to speak. When she woke up, she had no idea what happened and realized that she couldn’t talk…
It Was Helpful but Difficult
“I had a trach collar blowing air into my throat, which meant I was no longer uncomfortable or thirsty from the canula, but my vocal cords wouldn’t produce sound as long as I had a hole in my neck.” Not being able to talk was a difficult task, but Tess was thankful that she didn’t have to deal with coding every day.
She Had a Long Road Ahead
As she started to heal, her nurses told her small bits of information about Thomas. She was devastated that she missed out on so many of his “firsts.” His first car ride, the first time he met his brothers, his first feeding… She couldn’t believe it. The worst part was that she still couldn’t meet him…
Living in the ICU
Since Tess was still in the intensive care unit, Thomas wouldn’t be able to come and visit her. There was too much risk involved if he went into that part of the hospital. After all, he was just a newborn. It took her 24 days to finally be well enough to downgrade… Finally, she could meet her son!
Meeting Thomas
Even though she carried him in her belly, this was like meeting an entirely new person. As excited as Tess was, she was anxious. She knew that she smelled like a hospital and couldn’t even talk. She wasn’t meeting her baby at her best, and that upset her. "My smell and my voice were the two ways I knew I’d be familiar to him after such a long separation, and neither of those features was in working order."
The Desire To Get Better
After spending a few hours with her son, he had to go home… without her. That broke her heart but also fueled the fire within her. She knew that she needed to get better so she could be at home with her family. She immediately told her doctors that she needed to go home and would do anything to get there.
Removing the Trach
Later that night, the ENT specialist came over to remove her trach. Finally, she was able to use her voice again. After this small victory, Tess’s spirits were lifted. She was improving rapidly. The next morning, a doctor was able to tell her that she might leave in a week. She had a while to improve, but she was ready to get out of there and be a mom again.
Getting Discharged
Just like the doctor promised, she was discharged from the hospital with no medical equipment other than a walker to help her get around...
Going Home!
Finally, she could go home. Her parents picked her up from the hospital. She had to be wheeled to the car and helped inside. Tess knew that the next few weeks would be focused on strength building, but she was determined to do whatever it takes. Plus, Thomas was already one month old and she had a lot of catching up to do...
Being a Mom Again
"I was overjoyed to be home with my family, to be free from the loneliness of the hospital," she said. "My kids were jarred from such a long separation and sudden reunion with their mother, my husband was eager for things to return to normal, and I had a one-month-old baby to start bonding with." Sadly, things weren’t so easy…
Re-Bonding With Her Children
Her boys were hesitant to be with her. They hadn’t really seen her in over a month, and they could tell that she was different. "They were nervous the whole time," she said. "As if I had become unfamiliar to them." This was going to be a long road of recovery on all ends…
Living Healthy Again
"Now, eight months after the event, we’re finalizing all the cleanup efforts like follow-up appointments, additional health issues, and bills, and are focusing our efforts on emotional and mental healing. It’s been a long, hard process, but we’re so grounded in gratitude our family remains whole."
Sharing Her Story
Now, they're nearly a year out from this horrible ordeal. The family has healed and Tess has found a supportive group who has gone through similar traumatic experiences. Baby Thomas is happy and healthy and the other boys are growing up quickly. They're still a very on-the-move family, but now they have one more adventure buddy.