4 Weeks Old

It has already been  4 weeks since Mason was born. This month has flown by! In my last post I said that we would be headed back down to Primary's in SLC to get Mason's head checked out by his neurosurgeon. Turned out that his dr. felt same as our pediatrician back home that it is likely he would need a shunt placed. But he said lets wait a week and see how he does. If it is the same or worse we'll do surgery. We went ahead and scheduled an MRI for November 4th, and surgery for November 5th just in case we have to go the surgery route. While we were there we were able to have Mason's stitches in his back taken out and he was cleared to lay on his back now. After they removed the stitches, we could see his back a little better and it looked so good! And we were also instructed to start cathing him only once a day instead of 4 times, which was a huge relief! That day we were able to take Mason home in a regular car seat and since then, we have been able to treat him more normally. We are still careful with his back, but we can pick him up without worrying as much and we can change his diapers while he lies on his back, which is MUCH easier.  He loves to lay on his back now.


Mason after his MRI




The following Saturday (Nov 2nd) we headed back down to SLC.  His head had not improved since the previous appointment. So we were pretty much on track for getting surgery. He had his appointment for the MRI Monday the 4th.Mason had to fast for a few hours before the MRI which was not easy for a little infant. I struggled watching him cry because he was so hungry. Mason had to be sedated for the MRI. I held him in my arms as the nurse gave him the medication.  I don't know why, but I cried as I watched the nurse put him in the big MRI machine. He was just so little and I felt bad that he had to do this at all. His MRI took about 30 minutes, and they brought him out to where we were waiting. At first Mason had a hard time keeping his oxygen up because of the sedative, so they had to put him on oxygen for a couple hours. He didn't wake up for about 3 hours. I knew he was okay because his vitals looked good, but I couldn't help but worry that he wouldn't wake up! Thank goodness he did! He struggled a bit that day because of the sedative, so I wasn't able to nurse until later that night. Since Mason was sedated for the MRI, he had to stay overnight for observation. Malone and I stayed the night there with him on this tiny little futon couch in his room, which made for a long night.


The next day, Mason was taken down to surgery at about 7:30 am. Mason was a good candidate for an alternative surgery to a shunt called an ETV, or an Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy. This procedure opens a hole inside the brain to reestablish flow of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and prevents too much fluid from being made. It also helps prevent future infections and a lower long term complications compared to shunts. So we were excited that he was able to do this surgery. We are hoping this option works for him. If there are any problems with the ETV, it will occur within the next few months so we will have to keep an eye on him for a while. Malone and I waited in the waiting area for about 2 1/2 hours for Mason to get done. All the while I just kept worrying about him and getting teary-eyed. I just worried that something would go wrong and he would have brain damage or something. It's a little scary knowing there is a man in another room operating on my little baby's brain! Eventually the neurosurgeon came and talked to us about how things went. He said that while he was working on Mason, he was able to create the opening for the CSF, and stop part of the brain from making as much CSF. But he wasn't able to get as much as he had hoped because there was a little blood that clouded his vision. But he feels confident that he was able to get enough and that the ETV should work. Over the next few months we'll be keeping a close eye on his head size. We are praying that this works! If not, we'll have to take him back in for shunt surgery. After Mason got out of surgery, he was pretty awake, but had this really raspy weak cry which was so sad! He had to have a tube down his throat during surgery, so I'm sure his throat was a little sore. His head was all orange from the iodine and he has about a 2 inch crescent shaped incision on the right side of his head. He had to stay in the hospital for another 2 days. It wasn't until Thursday afternoon that he was finally discharged to go home. It was a long week at the hospital. Malone and I stayed every night there with Mason. Mason had a quick 5 min MRI on Thursday to make sure the hole made for the CSF stayed open, which it did.

He cried a bit when he was coming out of the anesthesia- he looked so little and so sad. Poor baby!

Poor little guy!

I had asked the nurses to give him a little bath and try to get some of the orange iodine out of his hair. He looked so cute sitting there!

Here is his incision- it's stitched up with dissolvable stitches. Looks a little scabby, but he is doing fine with it.

While we were in SLC, Malone got a phone call Monday (Nov. 4th) from a company in Las Vegas called Southwest Gas who wanted to fly Malone out for an interview. They wanted him to fly out Thursday the 7th, the day that Mason would be discharged. At first I wasn't happy about Malone leaving me and Mason to go to an interview, but after a while I decided agreed with Malone it would be for the best for our family. We were totally unprepared for Malone to have an interview, he had no dress clothes at all. He had to borrow everything from my uncle and cousin. Malone flew out first thing Thursday morning for his interview. He said that the interview went really well and that he is very interested in working with them. They have great health benefits, 401k, good starting pay, pension, and he won't have to move around to different locations as part of his work. He is very excited about it and hasn't stopped talking about it since. We really hope it works out even though it's kind of far from home and not exactly our first choice of places to live.  Malone flew back that night and we were able to go home the next morning.

Since we've been home, Mason has been doing great. We went and saw his pediatrician yesterday and he is happy with the way Mason is looking. He said his head size looks great as well as everything else overall. He has gained a pound and has grown about a half inch! Malone and I are so happy about how he is doing! We still can't believe we have a baby sometimes. Life has sure changed, but definitely for the better. Mason is such a blessing and he has brought Malone and I so much closer. I love having a little family!

On our way home!

One month old!