Mason seemingly glides along in his everyday routine completely oblivious to how special he really is. He's just a six month old who is happy, alert, reaching for everything and loving the tastes of new foods and drinks. I think we have learned a few little things during this ordeal and the most important ones that come to mind for me are 1) the rest of us haven't even begun to know what it feels like to have gone through so much and you think you've got problems?; 2)Mommy & Daddy are truly your best friends and advocates and in most cases will be there for you no matter what, so even if you don't wanna be seen with us later on-we'll be there if you need us, waiting on the sidelines; 3) the best things in life really are free-like smiles, kisses, coos and that sweet, innocent baby smell; 4) babies really are in charge; 5) God chose us to take care of his special, little boy and we have to take that honor and try to give him the best of the human spirit. We sure are lucky.
We had a 6 month pediatrician's visit Thursday and you know what that means. Shots! The regular round of 6 months shots, plus a flu shot. Mason has pretty much glided through all his shots previously and so this time around I expected the same. Poor Mason, he was blindsided and developed a fever of 102.2 by 12:00pm. After I stripped him down, gave him more Tylenol and some juice, we stayed up for a few more hours and he finally settled back to sleep. I'm guessing it must have been the flu shot that made him miserable. Dr. Etheridge was pleased to see how well he was doing and presented us with the fact that Mason, at approx. 15.04 pounds, was in the 10th percentile on the growth chart. Great news-we are still on the chart!
Mason is the superstar in that office, as soon as we check in the front, we are whisked back to one of the rooms in the back. Dr. Etheridge doesn't want him exposed to more germs and so he gets some special treatment. This includes getting the first in appointment. Dr. Johnson popped in to say "Hello" and take a look at famous Mason. He said he hadn't realized we were the family with the infamous kid.
Well, it looks like Mason may have some local company regarding his condition. Our ER nurse friend, Marsie, (Mason's Godmother) became aware of a young mother who is having her first child and she believes it to have HLHS. We offered to help in any way we could; especially sharing our experiences at Stanford as it appears that is where she will be delivering or taking the baby to once it arrives. Marsie said this young mother is completely devastated.
Many websites provide statistics that HLHS occurs in 2.1/10,000 of live births, and occurs in 7.5% of all newborns with congenital heart defects. Considering the entire county of Grant is approximately 13,000 to 14,000 people it is very rare to have 2 babies within such a short time and distance to have this particular heart defect. We can be thankful that we were diagnosed while the baby was in utero and that surgical techniques have improved over the years. I'm hopeful that if Mason ever needs a transplant, they will have been able to grow his heart from his own tissues/cells. In the meantime, Mason makes things look easy. I can't say enough how greatful we are to God for that and how thankful we are to have so many friends and family praying for us. We couldn't be more blessed.
