7 Months Old , Post-op Clinic & 4th of July

Happy 4th

Ammon(3yrs) & Mason(7mo.)

"I am 7 months old!"

"Yeah! No more O2's."

This last Monday June 30th, Mason turned 7 months old! What a huge accomplishment. 7 months ago today, Dec. 4th 2007, Mason was by far the sickest child in Primary Children's PICU. That day we were not even sure his body would recover enough, from his "crash" the day before, for the Dr.'s to operate on his heart in attempt to save his life. But he fought to live! And now two operations later is a happy, babbeling, little 7 month old! Believe me, I still have sad moments, wishing he were a healthy baby with a normal heart, but am so greatful for all the miracles that have touched our lives and kept him here with us on earth still today. I now could not imagine my life without him.

Wednesday, July 2nd, Mason had his post-op clinic at Primary's. Bonnie, the N.P. for the Cardiothoracic team, was happy to see him doing so well! He weighed in at 11lb's 10 oz, which is great for him. His oxygen saturation was around 82 at room air (which is good for a HLHS baby), so he is off O2 during the day! Yeah!!! They said to have him sleep with O2 at night just for extra support for the next month. He also got the steri-strips off of his incision and it looks pretty good. So, he finally got to take his first real bath since surgery. And he got the okay to go swimming. My other kids are very excited about this. Maybe next week we will see how he likes the pool ( at our neighbor's house). Thanks to awesome neighbors. Public pools have too many germs! I asked about his "not wanting to sleep" issues and the Cardiologist said he's definitely not ready to "cry it out" to learn to go to sleep by himself. He said his little heart just could not handle that yet, reminding me what a huge surgery he just had 3 1/2 weeks ago (and his 2nd in 6 months). His answer was "just spoil him for now". Like I already don't! I guess Mason and I will catch up on sleep someday. Do you other HLHS heart babies not sleep well either?

Today, for the 4th of July, Mason and I (and Ammon for half the day) have had some quiet(well at least the other half of the day was quiet), and bonding time! Mason just is not ready for crowds yet. The slightest cold or tummy bug would send him over the edge. By my choice, this was the first year in 15 years I did not run the Freedom Run in Provo. I ran my own "treadmill 10k" while Ammon and Mason were still asleep, with the baby monitor right at my side ( Okay, so I am a worried mommy: but with great reason). Mark, Kaitlin,Preston, Braiden and many cousins ran the 10k, 5k, & 1 mile, in my place, and had a great time! Next year hopefully we can all go down and run. It has been a hot, but beautiful day! HAPPY 4TH TO ALL!!

One last thing! Thank you to Kaylynne for my awesome massage last night. She is a sweet friend/ Great Massage Therapist who gifted me a massage when Mason was born and I finally was able to sneak away! It was a much needed hour to myself.