Featured cherub of the week is Lucie Henderson. Lucie is the daughter of Laura and Ryan Henderson and big sister to Lydia.
Lucie’s mom, Laura, had this to share about her daughter, “At 19 weeks gestation, my husband Ryan and I went for our 19 week anatomy scan with both of our moms. We were very excited to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. We both had a hunch it was a girl, and I not so secretly was wishing for a girl. We all yelled and got excited when we were told that the baby was a girl. I was getting my Lucie Rose after years of loving that name. After our scan, my doctor sat down with us to discuss the ultrasound. Being first time parents, we didn’t think anything of it. Our doctor told us he was seeing some fluid around the baby’s lungs. He wasn’t sure what was causing this fluid, but it could be caused by literally 100’s of things. We were shaken trying to figure out what was wrong with our daughter. He asked for us to come back in a week to measure the fluid and hopefully find more answers. At 20 weeks there was no change in the fluid around her lungs. At this point he wanted us to come back again at 22 weeks. At our 22 week appointment our doctor still had no answers. He referred us to the Fetal Care Institute at Cardinal Glennon in St. Louis. There we met with Dr. Vlastos at 24 weeks. Our first appointment with FCI was absolutely draining and ended with us receiving the diagnosis left sided Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. At first, we were relieved because we had a diagnosis. After 5 weeks of not knowing what was wrong, having a diagnosis was a little bit of a weight lifted. That quickly changed after we learned how severe CDH really was. The next couple months blurred. We continued our appointments at FCI and monitored her CDH and the fluid around her lungs. She also developed skin edema and had hydrops. I began to struggle due to polyhydramnios. At 32 weeks, I was admitted to the hospital because she wasn’t looking so good. After 3 days in the hospital, I was released and told to take it easy. My appointments were increased to twice a week. At 34 weeks, I was again admitted to the hospital until she was born. Our plan was at 37 weeks Lucie would be born via EXIT procedure at Cardinal Glennon. After a week in the hospital, she was doing so well that the plan changed that I could have a c-section and be awake for it instead. So, the morning of July 1 I was transferred to Cardinal Glennon to deliver Lucie. I was warned that I most probably would not hear her cry, so the moment she came out and let out 2 little cries was absolutely surreal. Lucie was stabilized in her own OR room and brought back to me for me to see before headed up to the NICU. After spending some time in recovery, I was able to see her before heading back to my hospital. Lucie did well the first day, but that night her blood gasses started to get worse and worse. In the middle of the night I received a call that she had been put on an oscillator and that I shouldn’t be surprised if by morning she wasn’t on ECMO. Lucie made it through the night without going on ECMO by one point on her blood gas. This was the second time she showed us what kind of fighter she was. She spent a 8 days on the oscillator. Once she was on the ventilator, she was able to have her repair at 10 days old by Dr. Kaveer Chattergoon. She had intestines, pancreas, and spleen up. After 19 days, she started trying to extubate herself. Thankfully, we were able to keep her calm long enough for the doctors to do it and I got to hold her for the second time. The rest of her time in the NICU was spent learning how to eat, which she picked up rather quickly. We were able to go home after 29 days in the NICU. Lucie is not 5 years old and in kindergarten. She is extremely healthy and only suffers from mild asthma. She is a smart, active girl with a large heart. She wants to grow up to help people by being a nurse. She already has a natural tendency to care for people when they are sick or hurt. She does ballet, jazz, and taekwando.”
