The Pangans!: LACEE is HERE!!!

Lacee arrived a week ahead of schedule on October 6, 2011! As you all know I have weekly ultrasounds because of her IGUR. So on Thursday October 6th I went into work and worked all morning and then I went for my ultrasound at Baptist Maternal Fetal. As my previous post explained they were going to be doing BPP, dopplers, and growth (comparing it to 35 weeks). The ultrasound did not go well. Lacee did great on her breathing, motion, and tone but that was where the good news stopped. April (the sonographer) was not able to get any measurable fluid in 1 quadrant and it was very low in the other 3 quadrants. Not sure where the fluid went because it was there last week and my water hadn't broken but either way it was gone. Then was the growth issue. Lacee was measuring the same as she had the week before so that meant that comparing her numbers to my 35 week growth scan she had fallen off her curve. So April went to talk to the doctor but I knew what was coming. Dr. Nietche (I have no idea how to spell it) said that I needed to have my baby today. He wanted me to go to Forsyth to have her heart monitored and then they would possibly let me go to Thomasville to deliver.

So I got in my car and drove to Forsyth and headed up to the 4th floor and I was hooked up to the machines. Her heart rate was good but my BP was very high and they were concerned that I had developed preeclampsia so they did blood and urine tests to determine if I had it. It was at this point that they told me I would not be leaving to deliver in Thomasville and I would be staying there to have my baby. Now I was still reeling from the fact that I would be delivering that night (no matter where it was) and I was a little upset that my delivery plan was not going well as planned. I had packed my bags at home and I was prepared that it might happen but I had expected that they would send me home and then I would get up the next morning and just go to the hospital and deliver. Boy was I wrong! So I didn't have anything with me. I had called Chad as I was walking out of Baptist MFM and luckily he decided to drive to work that day so he was headed to Forsyth to meet me from Greensboro. I called my Mom who was in Morganton for work and she was like WHAT?! We were all pretty surprised about what was happening! We had to get Chad's mom to get Nisee from daycare. I also of course called my job to let them know because I was supposed to work an open house for our new hires that night. My old manager was very happy because October 6th is her birthday!

The results came back that I did not have preeclampsia but I did have gestational hypertension. I had eaten at work around 12:30 so the anesthesiologist wanted to wait until at least 6 hours after I had eaten to do the c-section. So they penciled me in for 6:30 that night. Later it would be moved to 7:00 and then it would actually be around 7:30 before I made it back. Lacee was born at 7:55pm that night weighing 4 pounds 7.25 ounces and was 17 inches long. They had 1 pediatrician specialist as well as 1 NICU doctor in there to check her out when she was born. They said she did not present any obvious down syndrome markers and looked really good just small! Then came the kicker her weight. Any baby under 2000 grams has to automatically go into NICU and well Lacee came out on top again weighing 2020 grams! She avoided the NICU by only 20 grams! Both pediatricians said she looked really good and that unless something happened later there was no need for immediate genetic testing! We were so relieved and just so thankful!

When Nisee was born while they closed me up Chad went to nursery with her and everyone got to see her have her bath and all that good stuff but here Chad and Lacee stayed with me while they closed me up. Then when they rolled me out I got to hold Lacee as we walked to recovery and my family was there in the hallway along with Brittany, Chessney and Stephanie. They all got to see me and Lacee for a few minutes. Once I got recovery Chad took Lacee to nursery to get her bath and all that good stuff. Chad was allowed to stay with Nisee when she got her bath but they wouldn't let him stay with Lacee so we didn't get any pictures of that. Yes I am still upset about that! I was in recovery for a lot longer than planned because we couldn't get my pain under control. They kept giving me pain meds but it wasn't getting the job done and they wouldn't let me go to my room until I had my pain at a certain level. Finally shortly before midnight they got it to an acceptable level and they moved me to my room. The only person left was Chad at that time and no one had gotten to hold the baby because they still hadn't give her a bath at 11pm. When I got to my room I demanded to see her and it still took them an hour to get her to me so it was the next day when I got to see her and hold her when I wasn't in the OR or recovery.

I sent Chad home that night so he could get some sleep because I knew they were going to be coming in and out a lot. Little did I know how much. They continued to give me lots of pain meds because there was still an issue with getting it under control. I didn't have a problem like this during my 1st c-section. My blood pressure kept bottoming out and then there was the issue with my output. I was drinking a lot of water because the pain meds were drying me out but I wasn't putting out what I was taking in. Now that did happen with Nisee. They were in and out of my room every 30 minutes checking my BP and my output levels. When I say I got NO sleep I am very close. I ended up with maybe 1 hour. Things with me finally got better the next day after lunch but this c-section was much more rough that my 1st.

As things with me got better things with Lacee didn't really get worse we just got the news that she was jaundiced and would have to be under the light all day and night Saturday. Her numbers came down so she was able to go home. She also has what is called a sacral dimple and has to have an ultrasound to make sure that it does not go all the way to the spine. The dimples are very common but the instances of them being major problems are very rare so we aren't going to worry about it until we need to. Other than being small the doctors were very happy with her and her progress!

AND that is the story of Lacee Rayne's birth! We are so blessed to have her here with us healthy and we thank GOD for answered prayers!