Macey Elizabeth Hangartner
"The Coke Can Baby"
 |
Born: September 24, 2003
Weight: 380 grams
Parents: Mike & Rachelle Hangartner
This is the story of a very tiny little girl with a very big will to live.
Macey was born on September 24, 2003 weighing only ¾ of a pound or 380 grams.
Macey was very tiny for a 26 and 6/7 weeker. This was due to a blood condition I
was diagnosed with while already pregnant with Macey. To date, Macey is the
smallest preemie to survive at BC Children’s Hospital. Here is her story….
My mommy flew from Whitehorse (Yukon Territory) to Vancouver to have some tests
run. They were watching her very closely through her pregnancy with me. You see,
I was my Mommy and Daddy’s third pregnancy. Mommy lost the first baby at 23
weeks and the second baby at 9 weeks. At 7 weeks gestation (with me) Mommy was
diagnosed with Anitphospholipid Antibody Syndrome.
Mommy was put on a twice-daily injection of Heparin to thin her blood. As
follow-up Mommy flew to Vancouver every 4 weeks to start and then every two
weeks until mid-August 2003. During that visit my Mommy and Daddy were told that
I was very tiny for my gestational age. Mommy was hospitalized and told that I
needed to grow and she needed to stay pregnant until I was at least 27 weeks for
me to have any chance of being viable. Mommy and Daddy prayed and our ten month
long roller coaster ride began.
At 12:16am on September 24, 2003 Dr. Skoll delivered me by Classic
Caesarean-section. My Mommy, Daddy and Grandparents were so scared. They knew I
was still very little and they were not given good odds for my survival. You see
a preemie born under 400 grams had never survived before. But out I came with a
little cry, kicking, and one eye open. I looked at my family before the
resuscitation team took me away. Mommy says I looked like a little baby bird.
Everyone was so overwhelmed by my tiny size.
Because of my size the doctors did not know if the equipment needed to sustain
my life would work on my tiny body. Thanks to the experience, skill, and nimble
hands of the staff, they were able to intubate me and start lines. I also had
several eye exams while in the nursery. But on December 1, 2003 the
Ophthalmologist stated that I had “marked plus disease” and my eyes required
retinal laser surgery. I went in to surgery later that night.
In the next few weeks the eye doctor determined the surgery was successful. I
remained intubated until December except for several self-extubations. On one of
those occasions I required CPR, which resulted in fractures of my tiny ribs. On
December 5th I was started on Bubble CPAP. Oh how I hated CPAP. On December 21st
I was switched to high-flow nasal prongs and then onto low-flow on January 6,
2004. During this time I began to breast and bottle-feed. And despite being very
stridorous I did very well.
On January 20 I was re-intubated due to aspiration. It was a huge set-back for
me and my family. Although the doctors tried to extubate me several times, I
needed to be re-intubated each time. On February 23rd I once again
self-extubated. My nurse, Tammy, called my Mommy and Daddy at 3am just so they
could hear me cry. I was told that Mommy and Daddy cried too because they were
so happy to hear my little voice. I worked very hard to breathe during that
time.
So hard in fact that they even tried me on heli-ox, which my parents
affectionately called “bubble baby”. On March 5th I took a turn for the worse.
The doctors attempted to intubate me again because of my increased work of
breathing. It took several attempts due to severe subglotic narrowing (swelling
in the top of my throat). In February my parents were advised that a
tracheostomy might be necessary. With my airway so closed the doctors decided
that I had to be trached.
Later that night I went in for an emergency tracheostomy. My parents were beside
themselves with worry and fear. I had been so tough up to this point but could I
make it though another huge hurdle. As the days passed following my tracheostomy
I appeared to be once again growing stronger. On April 13, 2003 (after 200 days
in the SCN) I went in for a gastrostomy (G-tube for feeding) and laparoscopic
fundoplication surgery. Like many preemies, I had terrible reflux.
The reflux was not only causing me discomfort, but further complicating issues
with my throat. Following the surgery I was transferred to the ICU. On April 19,
2004, I was transferred to the Transitional Care Unit (TCU). We were very sad to
leave the doctors and nurses in SCN, especially my primary nurses, Tara, Tammy
and Laura. Oh how I love and miss them. However, in TCU my parents would learn
how to care for me at home. By May I was weaned completely off the ventilator
and was only on a small percentage of oxygen.
My parents underwent nearly a month of training and by the end felt so confident
that they could hardly wait to get me home. Besides they couldn’t bear to stay
at Easter Seal House for much longer and missed home so very badly having been
gone for almost a year. On June 4, 2004 they had a nice going-away party for me
at the Special Care Nursery. I slept through most of it but my parents had a
good time and I got lots of wonderful things. I really love the staff at
Children’s Hospital and so do my parents.
There were many close calls, lots of tears and a ton of prayers. But at the end
of a long and emotionally turbulent road, I am finally home. I am now a happy
10-month-old baby girl (seven months corrected) with a bright future ahead of
me. In May 2005 they will reconstruct my throat and remove my tracheostomy.
Until then my parents will take endless pleasure in my gummy smiles and silent
giggles and look forward to hearing my baby babbles and coos once the
tracheostomy is removed.
UPDATE, March 2005: My surgery date is getting closer now. I am
much stronger and if you can believe it I am a whopping 20lbs and am 18 months
old (15 months adjusted). I am still not able to sit on my own or crawl but I
get a little bit stronger each day. I am a super happy baby and love to laugh,
play with my feet and clap my hands.
On May 4th I leave for Vancouver. My surgery is scheduled for May 10th 2005 and
my recovery is expected to take 3-4 weeks. Although my parents are nervous about
another big surgery, they are very excited about finally hearing me laugh and
for me to be free of many of my tubes and equipment. I will still have my
feeding tube but hopefully that will eventually be removed too.
The picture below is me at 22 days old.
 |
This next picture is me now. What a difference huh!
 |
Thanks for listening to my story.
Love Macey xox
If you want to email my family or me our email address is:
onyx@klondiker.com
I will update you soon as I did undergo tracheal reconstruction in May in an effort to take my trach out. Well, it was out for seven days but do to some "dynamic" factors I was retrached at the end of May. My Mommy will send more details and some updated pictures because I am almost 2 years old!!!
