Kori was born on December 06, 1992, in the Ellsworth Air Force Base hospital, Rapid City, South Dakota. My husband and I had moved to Rapid City when I was seven months pregnant. My pregnancy with her was truly a near death experience. My blood pressure was real high all throughout the pregnancy; I even had periods where I would lose my vision temporarily. That was the weirdest (and probably) the scariest part; everything would get real fuzzy on me. Freaked me out, and I swore up and down that we would wait at least five years before we had another baby.
Her due date was December 25. Christmas! We were so excited! The doctors that oversaw my care were unable to keep my blood pressure within a comfortable range, so they put me in the hospital on strict bed rest a week before Thanksgiving. I hung out in my closet of a room, my visitors were restricted, and I was not even allowed to "potty" without ringing for a nurse. Believe me that got real old after a few days. I spent 2 weeks! When December 06 came around (my mommy's birthday) I was 37 weeks along and the doctors induced my labor. My labor was completely uneventful and she arrived at 10:07 p.m. weighing in at 5 pounds 10 oz. She was 19 inches long. She had a head full of dark hair, and was just perfect! My husband and I were so happy!
The nightmare began when she was five weeks old. She started to behave like a colicky infant. She wouldn't sleep in her bed for any length of time at all. She would only sleep if one of us held her upright over our shoulder, or she would sleep in the swing. I kept calling the pediatric clinic and I was always told that it sounded like colic and that she would grow out of it. She would also vomit if she were fed too much. I didn't think anything was wrong: I had never really been around babies. Nothing replaces experience, and you can only learn so much from books.
When she was about six weeks old, she literally got her nights and days mixed up! I had read that some babies had a hard time settling into a routine, so I just thought that this too, was normal. Thankfully we only had one baby, because I was on her schedule. She would wake up in the middle of the night and start her day. Again, my doctor assured me over the phone that this too, was all right. I had an appointment in 2 weeks, so I just waited. I DIDN'T KNOW, I WAS WITH HER 24/7, I NEVER "SAW" HER HEAD EXPANDING!!!
On Feb. 09, 1993 when she was nine weeks old, I took her in for her 2 month check up. Her doctor had retired from the Air Force, so I had a different doc. She came into the room, took one look at Kori and said that Kori would have to be seen by the clinic chief. He comes into the exam room and looks at her and then asks me where my husband was. I told him that they were flying that day but he may still be out on the flight line. He handed me the phone and said, "Call his shop and see if they can get him on the radio. Have him come down here ASAP." I had no idea what was wrong and nobody would tell me anything until he arrived. We were in the middle of a bad storm, and I didn't think that they would be able to reach him on the radio.
I called out to his shop and I got the boss. He had just come back in to get something that the guys had forgotten. By this time I was crying, and I could hardly talk. The nurses had taken Kori from me and had her in a different room. I told his boss that Clint needed to get to the hospital, something was wrong with Kori, and they won't talk with me until he gets there. He said that he would personally deliver him to the hospital.
Clint finally arrived and they took him aside and started to talk with him. The doctor came into the room and talked to me alone. He asked me things like, "Is Kori a real fussy baby" and "does it upset you when she cries" and also "have you ever shaken Kori in a fit of anger?" I looked at this man like he was from another planet. I just wanted to slap him for thinking such things! I just said no, and wondered why he was asking me such things. They had asked my husband similar questions. They thought we had abused her in some way. All that the doctor would tell us was that she needed to go downtown for a CT scan. He handed my daughter's chart to my husband and we were on our way. I started to read the file and all I could make out were statements like "head too large" and "possible inter-cranial bleed." I was dumbfounded. She was just a tiny baby, it had been nearly three hours and nobody had told us anything.
We arrived at the local hospital downtown and they admitted her. We had to wait about an hour or so for the CT scan because they were busy. It had been over four hours and I still didn't know what was going on. The staff kept my husband busy with paper work, and I was left alone, without Kori, in her room. The nurse told me that I couldn't be with her during the CT scan. She said that it would upset her if she saw me. I thought that that was ludicrous. But I didn't say anything. I didn't want to violate some sort of hospital procedure, (I know better, now). Another nurse came into the room and said that Kori was hungry, could she give her a bottle. I told her that that was all right since I knew I was too upset to nurse. The nurse left the room, and I was all alone
