DEC 12 - RECOVERING FROM SURGERY/ DAY 4

I woke up early in the morning and I remember going online. I tried to update my WTE March moms as much as I could. Those girls were still pregnant but they still cared and prayed much for Mason. I logged on and saw a post from Cheryl, Her water had broken on Thanksgiving and she had been in the hospital trying to keep her baby in. She was 25 weeks I believe. Well I saw a post saying her Baby Landon had arrived. Little Landon Michael Williamson was born Dec 12 and weighed 1lb 12 oz. So he was pretty much as small as Mason. I messaged her right away and she immediately sends me her number and told me we could share our experiences together. Little did I know she would become one of my closest friends. Little Landon also had a rough start and went through a lot of ups and downs, His momma is blessed to have him and I am thankful I have someone born 3 days after because this way I have a picture of how big Mason would be. Anyways I chatted with her and exchanged info. Louis had gone to work and I was home alone with my mother. She was decorating for Christmas “Just like we did today” and I remember laying on the couch and her and my sisters catering to my every need. Recovery was not going smooth due to the fact that I was up and down. I was experiencing bad constipation and it wasn’t helping. I remember listening to Halo all day. I’m guessing that single was released around that time because it was everywhere. After my mom finished she made me some food and I took my medication. I then called Millers. I got an update from Jenna, this was her first time taking care of Mason, She gave me the most complete update I had gotten so far. She told me he was started on Dopamine because his blood pressure was a little low. She also told me they had done an echo and that he had a PDA, A PDA is pretty much a whole in your heart that is supposed to close soon after birth. They would give him medication for this. She also explained to me over the phone that when babies were going to have long stays parents sometimes picked a Primary nurse, I then asked her if she would be interested, I took a shot but it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. She agreed, she would become Masons Primary for as long as he was alive. I felt a little relived especially since I had now found a primary nurse. Today was my Christmas party at work and never would have I imagined that I would be going 3 days after having major surgery. When I woke up my whole family was getting ready when the lights go out, everyone was showering in the dark. I wasn’t able to drive so it’s not like I could just take off to go see my baby and Louis was working till 10pm. Since there was nothing to do with no power my mom made me a deal. She didn’t really want to go to me and my dad’s Christmas party so she told me if I went she would take me to see him right after. I agreed, Id do anything to go see my Mason. I got up and I'm not sure how I got dressed..No lights and horrible pain doesn’t go hand in hand. I remembered that Mason was the ONLY baby who did not have a blanket over his incubator so my mom agreed to take me to Burlington to buy him one. It was raining at this point and my mom told me that I was really susceptible to getting sick so she made me wear snow weather clothing. We got to Burlington and I got him a green “My First Christmas” blanket since it was close to Christmas and everyone had Christmas blankets. That’s when I knew Mason’s color would be green. It was so packed since it was during the holidays but we tried getting out of there as soon as we could. We then went to my job, everyone was so amazed to see me, I met a very good Co Worker that had come down from Laredo Tx. I stayed with her most of the time, ate some tacos and me and my mom left. When we arrived to the NICU it was to my surprise shift change. There was only 2 hrs during the day I couldn’t visit and I had arrived right on that time. We went downstairs to the cafeteria and waited, I was so anxious and this was not what I needed. Luckily the hour went by quick and we went back up. We scrubbed and I went right in to see Mason. The night nurse was catching up on her patients so she let me change his diaper. This was the first time I changed his diaper…These were the tiniest diapers I had ever seen. But I managed to do that and take his temp. We watched him and touched him and I did the only thing I could…Admire him. His ventilator settings were the same he was still at room temperature on the regular conventional ventilator. His gases for the day had been acceptable. The nurse also told me they had fitted his colostomy for a bag so he would be receiving one the next day. They had also weaned on his pain meds so he was recovering well.  We only stayed for about an hour because my mom was going to drop me off and go back to the party because my sisters had stayed back. I kissed him said a prayer and we were off. I always left the NICU wondering how it would feel the day I walked out with him. I knew it was a while from now but I couldn’t wait.  She dropped me off at home and I updated my WTE moms. I took my medications and went to bed. Today was day 4 and Mason was doing well. 

 ^ "His First Blankie"  "This was his Medical Update for the day"