Mason Dean Bullock's birth story



My last day of being pregnant! This is right before
we checked into the hospital.

The last few weeks have been an incredible experience. Malone and I welcomed our first child into this world. On Monday October 14th, I checked into the hospital at 5:30am. Malone's dad was already there waiting for us. What a blessing it was to have him there with us! A little while later my parents came and stayed with me in my room. After a lot of prepping and meeting doctors, I found myself in the OR waiting to have my baby. Mason  Dean Bullock was born by C-section at 8:13 am. I wasn't allowed to see him then, but I heard his gurgled cry before they rushed him out of the room. It was such a relief to hear him cry, I cried. Malone was with me the entire time holding my hand. The doctors closed me up and I was transferred to a bed and taken to a recovery room. I knew before hand that there was a chance I wouldn't get to see him or hold him when he was first born, so I was prepared. While I was in the recovery room, the transport team who was taking Mason to Primary Children's Hospital stopped in the room so that I could see him. The first thing I saw was this long blonde hair!! I've never seen that much blonde hair on a newborn before. Mason was in a clear plastic box and I could see that his bottom half was covered with what looked like some kind of plastic sack. I wasn't able to see his lesion on his back. I came to find out later that the sac on his back ruptured during delivery, and it was wide open. You could see the muscles and even a little bit of bone. I never did see his back in person, Malone described it to me. The transport team took Mason to Primary's where he was taken care of. Malone's dad met him there later.


The first time I saw Mason

Malone helping clean Mason before his surgery



Mason before surgery (sorry kind of graphic!)

Eventually I was taken to my room that I would be staying in the rest of my time at the hospital. I was really tired after the surgery, it was hard to stay awake. Looking back now, I don't really recall much from that day. The only thing I remember is when Malone came and got me and he wheeled me down to Primary's so that I could hold my son for the first time. It was about 9pm that night, and I had mixed feelings when I saw my son lying there on his tummy with all sorts of wires, IV's, and a bandaged little back. While I was so excited to see this little boy I have heard so much about, it broke my heart to see him like this. Even though he looked so sad, I could see that he looked just like his daddy. And that made me so happy. That night, Malone and I finally agree that we should officially name this little boy Mason Dean Bullock. Mason is the name of Malone's brother who died shortly after birth. I always thought of Malone's brother as a very special spirit who was so strong he only needed a body. And now we both sort of consider him a sort of guardian angel.  Dean is Malone's grandfather's name, who sealed me and Malone in the temple; the man who made us an eternal family. It all just seemed to fit. I didn't name Mason his name because it's popular, but because it's a name that actually had meaning to us both. It's special to us and that's all I care about.

First time I touched Mason

First time holding Mason

The next morning, Mason was scheduled for surgery. I was wheeled down to see him before he was taken to surgery. After he went into surgery, it almost killed me to go back to my room at University. I wanted so badly to be there when the doctor came out to tell us the news of how the surgery went. But I was so tired and in need of medication. The second day after surgery was by far the hardest day for me. I was very uncomfortable and just exhausted. Mason's surgery was supposed to last up to 3 hours, but he was done in 2. The surgery went perfectly. The closure couldn't have gone better, and his back really looks great. We were extremely pleased with the outcome. Since the surgery, now we wait to see if any hydrocephalus kicks in. Since his back has been closed, the brain has to learn to reabsorb all the cerebral spinal fluid that had been seeping out the back. If the brain cannot reabsorb the fluid, it will accumulate and the head will swell. Mason's head size remained pretty stable after surgery and during our stay at the hospital. He has really great movement in his legs, especially his thighs. The Physical Therapist thinks there is some weakness in his right lower leg and ankle. We aren't sure how much feeling he has in his right foot. But he does kick really well, especially when you try to change his diaper.

Mason's back after surgery. It looks so good!

During our stay in the hospital, we were blessed to have many family members come and visit us. It really meant a lot to have family support. Even family members we haven't seen in a while stopped by which was so great! By Friday the 18th, I was discharged from the hospital feeling really good! I surprised many people at how fast I was able to get up and going after having a C-section. Mason saw many different specialists including Physical therapists (checked his movement and muscle tone), speech therapist (to check his swallowing),  pediatrician, and a neurosurgeon. And to our surprise, Mason was discharged the next afternoon. I was so happy that we could all go home as a family, together.

We were instructed as to the care Mason required when we got home. Mason has to be cathed 4 times a day, every 6 hours. We have to change his dressings on his back once a day. Mason has to stay on his sides or on his belly at all times, he can't be on his back and we have to be careful about putting any pressure on the incision on his back for 2 weeks. Mason was not able to come home in a regular carseat, we had to borrow a carbed from the hospital. The carbed allowed Mason to lay on his side during the ride home. And we were asked to come back for a 2 week follow up on November 1st. We are hoping after the follow up he can be on his back like a normal baby.

Since we have been home it has been a whirlwind of new; new responsibility, new routine, new normal. We wake up ever 2-3 hours to feed and change Mason's diapers. Then every 6 hours (day or night) Mason has to be cathed. And I will be honest when I say, it can be extremely difficult to accomplish even these few tasks. Mason has to have his diaper changed while he lies on his tummy. And while we are happy that he has movement in his legs, it makes it really difficult to change his diaper because he has to lie on his tummy and he kicks and screams, making for a very wiggly baby! Cathing is a two man job, Malone comes home early from work just to help me cath him everyday. I really struggle with cathing for some reason, but Malone is great at it.

However, just because Mason was discharged from the hospital doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet. Today, day 5 since we have been home, Mason had a checkup with our pediatrician here at home. Everything checked out good except for the size of Mason's head. Mason's head has grown 3 centimeters in 5 days, which is pretty fast. Our doctor is concerned at this rate of growth and believes Mason will most likely need a shunt placed. While a shunt isn't the end of the world, it is still another surgery. We will do anything for our son, and if a shunt will help him then we'll do it. But Malone and I are both very concerned about him. We got a call from the coordinator in the Spina Bifida Clinic at Primary's today who was informed about our son's current condition. She was also concerned about him and asked us if we wanted to come down tomorrow to see the doctor. Malone and I just couldn't swing that that fast, so we settled for an appointment for Monday. I speak for us both when I say we are both so scared and concerned for our son now. I am afraid he will start to show more symptoms of hydrocephalus between now and when we get to SLC Monday. I don't know what we will do if the doctor says he needs to go into surgery next week for a shunt. Malone has already missed a ton of work as it is. I just hope that things will work out and that Mason will be okay, as well as our affairs here at home.



Looks just like his daddy!

Starting to see his head is getting a little bigger.

More pics to come!