6.03.06: Mason, home for a year

Has it really been a year?

Although we were full of excitement when Mason was discharged from the NICU exactly one year ago, we were also full of worries about the unknown.

Mason had a pretty rough start, packed with scary events during his 4-month stay in the Special Care Nursery, including a severe pulmonary hemorrhage that very nearly took his life at two days old and a brain hemorrhage of the worst kind (grade 4 IVH). He also experienced several scary apnea spells, had surgery to close a ductus near his heart (PDA), and developed hypertension that took weeks to get under control.

In his first year at home he attended 64 medical appointments! (and I'm sure I missed getting some last minute appts on to the calendar.) This includes pediatrician visits, specialist appointments (opthalmologist, pulmonologist, audiologist, cardiologist, neurosurgeon, ENT), therapy appointments and home visits from various nurses. He also experienced one minor surgery, had a 3-day stay in the hospital with bronchiolitis, and had one trip to the ER for dehydration due to a stomach flu. (Yes, it's been a busy year ... and of course, this doesn't include our other recovering micropreemie!)

A year ago we were told to expect Mason to show developmental delays; moreover, we were told that there was a high probability that he would be diagnosed with cerebral palsy. We were also reasonably worried about his eyes, ears, lungs and heart.

So, where are we today? Mason just checked out wonderfully with the pediatrician at his 15-month appointment. It's really only considered a 15-mo appt. in regard to vaccinations, but he's evaluated by his adjusted age of 12 months.

A year ago Mason was 10 lbs and 4 oz ... and today he is 22 lbs and 8 oz. He's gone from 23 inches, to 32 inches. He's develomentally on track outside of some minor delays with his gross motor skills.

Mason has been cleared by almost all of the specialists. He sees well, hears well (after tubes were put in place), and his heart looks good. In a couple of weeks, he may even be cleared by the pulmonologist and have his final medication discontinued. Most significantly, Mason recently had a CT scan and we learned that the brain damage from the hemorrhage is very minor, only revealing a fairly insignificant loss of brain matter on the left side and trace evidence of PVL (cysts on the brain). At this point, based on both the brain scan and what we can observe in Mason, we're told that if he has CP at all, it's very mild. He's an extremely fortunate little guy. The extra axial fluid he's retained is still resolving but were told it's of little concern.

We did a lot of reflecting on the year and realized just how lucky we all are. Even with everything Avery has experienced, he is still among the lucky ones ... but I won't go into his full details until his homecoming anniversary on July 23rd. Today was about celebrating Mason. In fact, we took him out to lunch in honor of his special day, to one of his (or at least his parents') favorite casual restaurants ... Crepeville. We were joined by one of his former nurses and honorary aunties, Marsha. She's one of many we give credit for how well the boys are coming along.

Mason today, ...

... can crawl and pull himself up on things (most often on people), will roll a ball and anticipate its return, will push cars around on the floor, can fit objects into their appropriate slots (most of the time), is beginning to stack objects on top of each other, will dance to music while sitting, can play peek-a-boo, point, clap and wave.

... can use a handful of baby signs (outside, light, fan, all done, more, duck, bath, eat) and says even more words (most of the above plus Dodger, dog, Mama, book, ball, bottle, balloon, kitty cat, up, car, bye bye, and yells GO!!). He also recognizes many objects that he can't yet say or sign.

... can ask someone to read him a book and will turn the pages after you're done reading and will point and say the objects he recognizes.

... can eat table foods like a champ and isn't very picky. His favorite foods include things like cheese, avocado, bananas, eggs, peas and yogurt. He's not too crazy about green beens, but we'll keep trying. We're currently weaning him from the bottle and off of formula and have introduced him to whole milk.

Mason is a very social, active, observant and spirited character. He is eager to learn and we're enjoying every minute of him.