Mason's First Road Trip

After all our friends and family left on Tuesday night, Mason's nurse came in to tell us that Mason had a heart murmur. Hearing that something is wrong with your baby is devastating, but I knew enough about heart murmurs to realize that it was a minor problem, so we weren't too upset. Our first night with Mason went pretty smoothly, despite the fact that Chris' nervousness returned with a vengeance when his new baby was suddenly in his arms. Instincts kicked in, though, and he has been an amazing dad from the beginning. Mason and I are really lucky to have him.
The next morning they took Mason to have an echocardiogram to look at his murmur, and he was gone for so long that Chris and I got really concerned. I know they were sick of our calling the nursery to find out when our baby was coming back! He was eventually returned and spent the day meeting all kinds of new people.

The real trial came later that evening after they took Mason again to do more tests. Chris and I were visiting with Miriam and Jen, and Mom had run out to grab some dinner. Dr. Seawell called, and I answered. I don't remember much of what she said. I heard her say that they had found another, much more serious problem, and I just broke down. I handed the phone to Chris so she could tell him because I couldn't repeat anything. Miriam and Jen met Mom outside and filled her in, and Chris and I spent a few minutes alone together while we waited on the neonatalogist who was coming in to talk with us. A few minutes after all that happened, all the patients were evacuated from their rooms because of a tornado warning. As the mothers were all wheeled out into the hallway, nurses brought their babies to them from the nursery; I couldn't stop crying. My baby couldn't leave the NICU. And so had begun the hardest 48 hours of my life. Mason's pediatrician came back by then and took us back into the NICU so she could talk more to us and let us be with Mason.

Soon after that Chris' mom and stepdad came back to the hospital, and the neonatalogist explained Mason's defect, tetralogy of fallot, and what would happen next, as Mason was being transported to the NICU at Vanderbilt that night. Around 11:00 o'clock that night, the transport team came to get him, and although they were wonderful, it was unbelievably painful to see my day-old son strapped down in the huge transport isolette. I started crying again when I saw him, and Mason looked over at me and put one finger up to his mouth as if to shush me. I'll never forget that. We couldn't go with him in the Angel Ambulance, so Debbie and Dave drove us to Vanderbilt, where they rushed me into his room so that I could feed him. I still can't think about seeing him hooked up to all those monitors without getting choked up.

Mason stayed in the NICU there until mid-afternoon on Friday, and much of that time is a blur to me. The hospital had provided us with a family room so that Chris and I had a bed and a shower, but we didn't sleep much. I didn't want Mason to be alone at any time. I do remember, however, how excited we were when the cardiologist and neonatalogist cleared us to take him home! After everything that happened, Chris and I realized that Mason was in the best possible place, and we were so thankful for all the prayers and support we received...and for the excellent care they took of Mason at both Vanderbilt and Gateway.