So Thankful

Sorry for the long delay in updates!

We are home & doing well!

It has taken a bit for us to get re-situated at home. Mason kinda had his days & nights mixed up the first night. But being the wonderful baby he is ...He is back to sleeping through the night. Colby is glad to be home as well! What a feeling it is to have all your family back under the same roof. AMAZING

Well since I didn't do the best job of updating everyone during Masons recovery...I will do a quick rundown of the 17 days we were at the hospital. YES 17 days. Honestly we went in thinking 5days..7days tops! Boy were we wrong.

First was our "pre-op" day. *LONG DAY* We did an echo, EKG, blood draw (that ended in Mom & dad crying, Nurses grumpy, and Mason purple & needing oxygen) Then filled out a TON of paperwork. The nurse then tells us there is a 50/50 chance we wont have the surgery on Thursday..... The PICU was full and didn't have the room for us. ***INSERT PANIC HERE*** I almost started crying. We prayed & Prayed the rest of the day. We waited for the phone call that evening to tell us yes or no....well they never called. So I called them! 25min, 12 transfers , and 3 call backs we had our answer...YES for surgery.
***Side note** ( Our friends Adam & Suzy's little girl, Kandise, was having surgery on Thursday as well. We went through all out pre-op appointments together (that was so so nice to have friends there with you doing the same thing) We were both told a 50/50 chance of surgery. Then Adam and Suzy said " If it comes down to Kandise & Mason...Mason will get the surgery." (to have them say that was un selfish of them.) both were to have surgery at 8am... But they got a call at 5am that their surgery would be Friday morning instead.) Kandise is now doing well and is home with her parents!*****

Thursday morning was difficult to say the least. Knowing that I was going to have to hand over Mason was killing me inside. The fear & worry of the unknown was hard to deal with. Finally it was time to hand him over. We walked to a side door to a little hallway. Lining that hallway was all our family & friends. All standing there to support us. My Mom & Dad, Cory's Mom & Dad, My sisters Jen & Amanda, My BFF Bec, My SIL Liv and our pastor Mark were all standing there with tear filled eyes as they each kissed the top of Mason's head. Then came the hardest moment ever...handing Mason over to the Doctors. Words cant describe it, and very few parents will ever know what it feels like. Hardest thing I have ever done.

Mason's surgery was to take 3-4 hours. Our first update from the OR nurse was 1.5 hours after we handed him over. They hadn't started yet, they were having a very difficult time getting Mason's lines in ( He had 42 needle marks on him after surgery.) Next update was 1 hr later saying they had started and he was doing good. Next was his upper hole was fixed. Then the valves were being worked on, then the lower hole was being fixed...then they ran into trouble. They had fixed the bottom hole, stitched up, took him off bypass, and did an echo....There was another hole. So they had to open him back up , put him back on bypass, and repair again. Finally they came to tell us he was on his way to recovery and we would see him soon. 7 hours after we handed him over.

When we finally go to see him *7pm* he looked awful. He was cool to the touch, on a ventilator, and puffy. But I was so glad to see him. Our nurse that night was amazing (THANKS ANNIE) and took great care of Mason those first few night in the PICU.

**Mason decided he is hungry...I will finish the rest of our Journey update tomorrow!