Were almost home

Mason is doing great! He is now finishing some of his bottles and we meet with Drs. on Monday to talk about going home. We continue to pray that our little fighter continues to be strong and soon we will get to go home.

Also Mason's heart is doing good still....no major problems as of now. Were so thankful for our little miracle & thankful for all the prayers he has received.

Quick update

Mason is doing great!
He is out of the isolet, no more IV, and is taking 1/2 a bottle at a time (before he gets to tired).

He is gaining weight and just needs to finish his bottles to get to go home !

Just a few pics....

Mason is HERE!!!!!!!

SURPRISE!!!

Our miracle baby is here!

Mason Dean arrived on Friday April 22nd at 6:17pm via c-section 6lbs 14oz & 18 3/4 in long... and as cute as can be! Mason decided he didnt want to wait till Thursday to arrive!

God was in control over Masons birth. I went into early labor Friday afternoon around 2pm. I went into hospital to try to get contractions to stop... guess who was the Dr. on call.. Dr Gleason! Yep.. God is good. After a few hours of continued contractions and no stopping them , Dr Gleason put in a call to Dr. Evans ( who happened to be at the hospital also!) They both decided that it was time for us to meet Mason. At 6pm I was wheeled down the hall for a c- section. Mason Dean entered the world at 6: 17pm. After a few min with the NICU team in the room, Mason was stable & doing great. He needed a bit of oxygen and was wheeled right down to the NICU...Well almost right away... Mason got a rock star greeting. All of our family lined the halls as he was wheeled past to get a peek. It was a sight to see!

Mason is a doing GREAT in the NICU. No breathing help needed and is just working on eating. He is just doing wonderful.

More update later...

Mason still needs prayers for his heart. We pray his heart holds up as best as possible till surgery.

Praise GOD for our beautiful blessing!!!!

eviction date is set

I had 2 Dr appointment today. First I had a bio-physical sonogram with Dr. Evans. Its usually a quick 10min sono. Just checks for movement, practice breathing, ect. Well when we were almost done Terry went to go talk to Dr. Evans, and when she came back she said we were also going to a full growth scan as well.... uh oh.

Here are the "Stats":
Weight 7lbs ( 90th %) yeah..he is a chunker
His "over all size" is almost 38 wks...Im only 35wks.
Arms are now in the 33rd% (was less than 5%!!)
Legs are now in the 44th % (was less than 5%)
Cord pressure is 2.56 )good!)
Placenta look "mature" and lung show signs of maturity also!!

fluid level isn't rising and is finally "Normal" on the charts.
Actually pretty much everything is "Normal"...FINALLY... Nothing like waiting till the last min MASON!

After Dr Evans was Dr. Gleason's appt. Pretty simple appt. like always. Except....we set up my c- section date!!!!!!

Mason Dean will be here next Thursday , April 28th , at 8am!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK GOD he has made it this far!

Just a few words....

My face may be different
But my feelings the same

I laugh and I cry
And I take pride in my gains

I was sent here among you
To teach you to love

As God in the heavens
Looks down from above

To Him I'm no different
His love knows no bounds

It's those here among you
In cities and towns

That judge me by standards
That man has imparted

But this family I've chosen
Will help me get started

For I'm one of the children
So special and few

That came here to learn
The same lessons as you

That love is acceptance
It must come from the heart

We all have the same purpose
Though not the same start

The Lord gave me life
To live and embrace

And I'll do it as you do
But at my own pace

2 weeks...........

Um...WOW!

We are expecting our little Mason in 2 weeks now! We are getting all the final things needed for his arrival. I get so excited knowing he will be here soon and that he has made it this far! He truly is a fighter.

We had a special baby shower last weekend, it was perfect. It was all our close friends & family. I was so wonderful to celebrate Mr. Mason. Everyone is so excited to meet him...and that is one of my biggest worries... that people wont be excited to meet Mason, as they were for Colby. That people will treat him differently, or treat us differently because Mason has down syndrome.

Its been a rough few weeks dealing with all the emotions that I have been feeling, emotions that i haven't really addressed yet, but now I have to because Mason will be here soon.

I worry about the future with Mason,
If I will bond with Mason,
If people will treat him differently,
If we will lose friends,
If i will always feel that bit of sadness that Mason isnt like his "normal" brother Colby,
If Colby later regrets having a brother with a disability,
If we can handle all the therapy & surgeries ahead of us,
If life will ever be "normal" for us,
If Mason will be loved by everyone else.
If I can handle having to continually explaining that Mason has down syndrome,
If people will avoid us,
If people will think he is beautiful,


Sadly I cant answer any of these questions. This is where God steps in and calms my heart. All I know is that WE LOVE MASON, and that is all that matters right now.

Right now Cory & I have been praying for the strength to get through all of this. To be strong for our son, and to praise God for our blessings.

20 days.....

20 days....

Yep! That is right.... Mason Dean will be here (hopefully not sooner) in 20 days.

With some recent "complications" starting to pop up, were inducing at 36wks. Masons cord pressure is rising, and with slight growth restrictions, the Drs have decided its best to induce at 36wks.

We are thrilled to have a "date" set...but still VERY nervous for Mason. We pray he will come out as strong as possible! He is such a miracle baby already...I'm sure he will do great when he comes out. We are also praying for as short of NICU time as possible.

Our very sweet & kind friends are throwing Mason & I a baby shower tomorrow! I'm excited to get to chat & hang out with all the friends & family who love us. Mason will be celebrated!!!!!!

so...20 days...WOW!

1 step forward , 2 steps back...

Just when things were looking up....

I had an appointment with Dr. Evans today. The last sonogram we had, Mason looked great. We were all celebrating how well Mason was doing, and how "normal" the pregnancy was finally going.

Well fast forward to today.

I had a sonogram, cord check, growth scan, and a amnio reduction today. My fluid was up again and I have been so very ,very uncomfortable. As in I cant hardly breath sitting down or laying down. Well as we start the sonogram (laying down on my back), I start having trouble breath. As in, I was looking around for the oxygen mask. They measured my fluid and saw that it had increased again since last week. So then we prep for a amnio reduction. All was going well (as well as a huge needle in your uterus can go) then I started having troubles breathing again. I kept trying to take deep breaths but it wasn't working...finally..with the needle still in I got rolled over onto my side and continued to drain. I was finally able the catch my breath. We got off 750 (most we have gotten before was 500) so I now feel SO MUCH BETTER!!

Here our Masons "stats":

Head: Higher than 95th% (35wks 1 day)
Tummy: 90th % (34wks 6 days)
Arms & Legs : less than 5% (29wks)
Weight: 4lbs 9oz (chunker) 56th %

There is now a 6wk difference between Masons arms/legs & the rest of his body. They said it was common to have smaller limbs due to the down syndrome but they like it to stay above 10%. Well now were below 5%.

Masons cord pressure is elevated again. almost 4 ( it should be 2 ish... 4 is now in 95th% for pressure).

So now were "2 steps back". Just when we thought things were going so well. Thankfully we will be starting bi-weekly checks on Mason this week. Dr. Evans & Dr. Gleason will be keeping a very close eye on our little guy.

So today we pray that Mason continues to grown strong and make it a few weeks longer. Were not quite ready for him to make his debut just yet...


Also I wanted to ask for a few special prayers.... There is a couple that contacted me that has chosen to continue their pregnancy , even after receiving news that there little girl has cystic hygroma & turners syndrome. I pray God blesses them as he has blessed Mason. (Thank you again E for sharing your story with me.)

Dr Gleason appointment update..

Today I had an appointment with Dr. Gleason. Thankfully these appointment are short & sweet! Nothing much to report back actually...

I gained 0 (zero) in 3 wks... and were not worried about it since Mason is growing & Im eating (even stopped on the way home from appointment to get some G's frozen custard!).

Blood pressure is perfect still! (yay)

Mason heart beat was in the 130s.

We talked about delivery again. They were thinking C-sec because of the cystic hygroma...but since the CH is almost gone.. I "hopefully" get to try a natural delivery(SUPER YAY) There is still the chance for a C-sec if Mason's heart cant handle labor. Also we wont be making it to our due date... and for this I am glad. With all the extra fluid I have, 40wks pregnant is NOT something Im looking forward to. So we agreed to stop at 38wks. This also happens to be the week of Colby's & I's birthday. WOW. Unless Mason comes before then. The 1st of May will be "full Term" for Mason. I cant tell you how happy we are to finally be able to plan for a close to full term baby!!!!!! YAY for MIRACLES!!!!

We have a bio physical profile ultrasound , growth, and doppler check for Mason on Monday morning at 11 15am. Praying all goes as well as it has been. These last few weeks have been amazing. Mason is "healing". His cystic hygroma is almost gone, his cord doppler is in the normal range, and he is growing like a weed! He is truly our miracle baby.

Also next week we will start 2x a week Non stress tests/sonograms on Mason from here on out to make sure he is doing / growing like he should. Yep...that mean 2 extra appt a WEEK , plus my reg weekly Dr appts....possibly 4 appts a week.

Also we have mailed out about 50 bracelets in the last few days!! If you would like a "Mason" bracelet let us know!!!