Food coma

Mason sitting in his bouncy chair after eating three ounces of formula!!

Check-ups

Mason had two follow-up appointments yesterday.  We went and saw Dr Tufty, the eye doctor, and he said that Mason's eyes had improved a lot since the last eye exam.  He also said that he would be very surprised if Mason needed to have eye surgery.  After that appointment we went and saw Dr. Burchett, who will be Mason's primary doctor.  As soon as we walked into his office the nurse said "I haven't met you yet, but I've heard a lot about you."  This made us feel a little more comfortable because they were updated by the NICU staff throughout Mason's stay.  Dr Burchett came into the room and said "There's the famous baby!"  He told us that he had had many conversations with the NICU doctors and nurse practitioners about Mason.  He was happy to be taking care of him.  He said everything looked good and we will go back in one month to see him again.

Since being home, Mason has really taken off with his eating.  When we came home from the hospital he was drinking anywhere from 40ml-60ml.  Last night and today he has consistently been taking 80-85ml.  He took 90ml tonight, that is three ounces!!!  His weight yesterday at the doctor was six pounds one half ounce.  I have a feeling it is going to be a lot more when the home health nurse comes early next week! He continues to be on 1/2 L of oxygen and seems to be doing well.  He even slept for four hours straight last night!!   

HOME!!

We ended up getting to go home yesterday!  They are not worried about his heart. The doctor said if something was wrong we would have known it by now.  The ride home was a little scary, knowing it was just us now, but we made it home.  Mom and dad were very nervous not being hooked up to all the monitors, but we survived.  Mason did very well during the night last night.  He slept for three hours straight between each feeding.  He did well with each feeding as well.  Mom and dad actually got some sleep!!  We are so happy to be home with our little miracle man!!!  Thank you to everyone who has sent cards and gifts over these past few months.  We greatly appreciate your support through this time in our lives.

Going Home?

Today is the day that we could possibly be going home.  Mason had a good weekend.  Dad and Grandma Bonzi manned the fort while mom was at work yesterday.  Sounds like they had a very good day.  Mason is still on 1/2L of oxygen.  He is taking around 2 ounces at every feeding. Eating anywhere from a snack every hour to a full feeding every 3.5 hours.  Keeping mom and dad on their toes :)  Yesterday the nurse practitioner thought she maybe heard a heart murmur so she ordered an echo to be done this morning.  So as soon as we hear those results we will know whether we are going home or not.  Hopefully we hear good news and get to spend our first night at home with our little miracle man :)

Dad's birthday present = Rooming In!!

Today mom, dad, and Mason started rooming in.  This is done so that we get used to doing everything on our own.  We are in a little room in the NICU by ourselves with everything we would need at home to take care of Mason.  So far he is doing very well.  Right now he is on 1/2 L oxygen and doing good.  He was on 1/4 L but seemed to be working a little harder and not eating as well so we went back up to 1/2L.  He is taking about 2 ounces at each feeding. 

The plan is to room in Friday and Saturday nights and hopefully head home on Monday.  Mom has to work on Saturday and Sunday so this could be an interesting two nights of feedings and dad being on his own during the day.  Hopefully Santa brings mom some on-call time this weekend :)

Surgery Day

Mason went down to the operating room at about 8:00 this morning.  He was done and back up to the 4th floor NICU by 9:00. Dr Bufo said the procedure went very well.  He has two very small incisions on his lower abdomen.  Mason was able to get rid of the breathing tube within an hour of being out of surgery.  We were very happy with this!!  He is now back on nasal cannula at 1L.  He has started taking some feedings again, not quite what he was taking, but he is still coming out of the anesthesia.  He has been a trooper through it all and we are so proud of him. One more step completed on our quest for home :)

Day 84.....we think?

Last night Mason measured 17 3/8" in length and weighed 5 lbs 4 oz.  He is now getting fed whenever he is hungry instead of just every 3 hours.  Mason is also on nasal cannula full time and was weaned from 2 liters to 1 liter yesterday, he has been doing really well with it.  Our next big step will be to get his hernias fixed.  The surgeon came in this morning and decided to take Mason to surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30.  Big day for Mason, we all know how much he liked his breathing tube last time.  Hopefully they will be able to remove it the same day and he will be able to get back to eating as soon as possible.  This is a huge step towards going home! 

More Pictures of Mason

Bath time

Our current residence

 

Mason sleeping on mom

Another angle

Holding the pacifier

Suck suck sukaroo

New Pics

Day 77

Mason had a good weekend with dad and grandma Bonzi while mom was at work.  He drank an entire feeding from a bottle, which is a huge accomplishment.  Of course he would do this for dad while mom was at work!!  Otherwise he has been drinking about half of his feedings from a bottle and getting the other half through the NG tube he has in his nose.  He is still on CPAP three hours and cannula nine hours at a time.  He seems to be tolerating it well only requiring about 25-35% oxygen (room air is 21%).  He continues to grow at a good rate and was four pounds twelve ounces today.     

Day 73

Today was a big day for Mason.  He weighed in at 1970 grams, which is approximately 4 pounds 4 ounces.  The doctor increased his time on nasal cannula to 9 hours and then 3 hours of CPAP.  We could tell he was getting a little tired by the end of the 9 hours, but he did pretty good.  He was also allowed to try a bottle yesterday.  He wasn't quite sure what to think of it at first, but after a couple tries he is getting the hang of it.  They allow him to bottle feed while he is on nasal cannula and acting hungry.  Today they moved him out of the isolet and into a crib. He is getting to be such a big boy!  Pictures to come :) 

Day 70

Today marks 10 weeks in the NICU.  Mason weighs just over 4 pounds, and he has little rolls on his arms and legs and even a double chin!  The dietitian says he is doing great in weight gain and growth.  He is now 15 inches long.  He is still on CPAP for most of the day and we are doing nasal cannula two hours out of every six hours while mom or dad hold him. They are planning on increasing his nasal cannula time this week.  He is still in the isolet and they would like him to stay in that as long as possible.  The less he has to work to keep his temperature up the better he will grow because temperature control uses calories. 

Mom survived her first weekend at work away from Mason.  It was a busy one, but luckily it all came back after being gone since August.  Everyone that I worked with made the weekend much easier to handle. I was able to sneak away to have my lunch break at Mason's bedside.  I only called the nurses a couple times to check in.  Haha.  Joe got some father son time alone with Mason as well.  He did lots of holding since he has to be gone during the week at work and school. 

The big move

Mason made the big move to NICU 3 yesterday.  So far he has been doing very well down here.  Mom and dad are enjoying the larger space that we now have and the slower pace of the unit.  Last night Mason weighed 1680 grams or 3lbs 11.25oz.  Pray for mom tomorrow night.  It is her first night back at work and her longest time away from Mason since he was born.  Nothing else to report.  Good bye for now.