Pictures

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 :)