Due date

So today is Mason's official due date. Today is the day I thought about in my head when I got pregnant trying to think ahead to what day he would be born on, when he would come, how the labor would be. I sit here today thinking, my how different all of this was from what I EVER could have imagined. Mason, you have proven to have such a will to survive and fight for your life continuously and have been surrounded and covered by prayers from the day that you were born. I could have never imagined how many people would have come together to help us and more importantly to pray for our little boy. It has been an hard yet unbelievable journey and we have been so touched by many. Thank you everyone who have prayed, reached out to us, or given money to help us during this time in our lives.

2 Samuel 22:40 You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me.

Mason has been through many battles. All of them hasn't been easy. And all of you have been there every step of the way with us and for that we are thankful. This weekend was a hard one. We got the phone call on the way to the hospital yesterday that Mason's blood gases were so bad (on the jet on the maximum settings at 100% oxygen) that it wasn't likely he could live much longer if something didn't change. It was unbelievable to watch them draw off that much fluid off his belly and to visibly see him be able to breath again, them begin to immediately wean on the vent, and him wake up, bright eyed as if almost to say, "Thank you, you figured it out in time." His belly was so large that he looked pregnant.  All of his medicine, TPN, lipids and fluid had been dumping from his broviac/central line into his belly for the past week. This was the answer for what they thought on Tues. morning was a perforation. You can see this from the contrast study x-ray below how all fluid was moving into the belly.

His belly before the drew off all the fluid. A picture doesn't even do it justice.

We also found out that his blood had grown out a new bacteria that hadn't been properly covered by his antibiotics (called pseudomonas). We then found out that his CSF now had 1,000+ white blood cells which means he has meningitis again. It is pretty certain that the bacteria found in his CSF is the pseudomonas that grew out late and was untreated. The big concern today was after being on the correct antibiotics for a day, Mason's CSF white blood cells had jumped to 2,000 so the added a fourth antibiotic which crosses the blood/brain barrier better. If his white blood cell count doesn't improve by Tues. neurosurgery is going to have to pull out the reservoir so the infection doesn't pocket there. Please join us in praying that the new antibiotics resolve this enough by Tues. 

Mason's blood gases have greatly improved, he is back on the conventional vent and is breathing great. His urine output has been awesome and we are hopeful he is getting off all the additional fluid from his belly on his own. What a weekend it has been. But I hope and pray again that we are moving in the right direction. Another bump in the road. Or as we first were told another rise and fall on the roller coaster ride we have been on. It has certainly been a marathon. No training could have prepared us (even though I am certain God has been preparing us for this all of our lives). But I hope and pray that the finish line is drawing near to the day that our boy is healthy and well and ready to come home.