Reflections at 1 year

Tonight my heart is filled with joy and overflowing with love. Joy for a wonderful year and love for so many sweet souls that have prayed and cried and prayed some more for our family and for our sweet child. A year ago tonight my heart was filled with many feelings. It was evident that the labor was not going to stop. I was hurting and frustrated with my body. Numbers and statistics were being told to us. The pressure of wanting us to make a decision...did we want any medical help present; did we just want to enjoy our last few moments together? It all seemed a blur. But somehow I had a peace. Even through all the feelings of fear and sadness. God was there. And has been by our families side through the events of this past year.

Born at 23 weeks; 1 lb. 5 oz. 

Tonight, I look at this sweet little baby who is wild and fiery with life, kicking and grabbing with yes, all 2 arms and 2 legs and my heart is full. We are so blessed. He came out fighting not giving the dr. any choice. He was fighting to breathe and crying. As the days and weeks went on Mason never gave up. And our prayers never gave up and most importantly we never gave up on God or Mason. My son shows me daily that prayers can work and that miracles still happen. His smile lights up our life. He continues to amaze everyone at his progress. Most of all he is the most happiest precious little (well now big) baby I know.

Mason at 1 year old (8 months adjusted)

Today we celebrate that Mason is alive. His odds of life were 10%. There were numerous times we heard: he's not going to make it or IF he DOES make it his outcome will not be good. We are thankful over a million times that our son made it. Our God defied the odds and our little boy is alive. Our God is continuing to defy the odds as He is working in our and Mason's life every day. Today, Mason weighs 18 lbs., continues to work on rolling over, has almost mastered head control and his overall core strength has improved tremendously. He is using both hands and continues to use his left hand more and more. He is kicking his legs like crazy and can put weight down on his legs. His vision continues to improve greatly! He laughs, smiles, spits, blows raspberries with us and is mimicking our sounds and beginning to say, "ahh da, ga, ka and numerous other noises. His swallow study last week showed he is safe on baby food but does need his liquids thickened to nectar (if he would ever decide to take the bottle again). We are going to Chapel Hill's feeding team for some help. He continues to still show no spasticity of flaccid movements in any limbs and all of this is a testament to our God. Thank you to everyone for continuing on this journey with us. This past year has certainly not been easy. But I wouldn't trade it at all because we are blessed with 2 wonderful boys. 

I could have never imagined this time last year that we would be laughing with our little boy as we tickle him. What a sweet and precious blessing he is to our lives. Hope you enjoy this video (if you can't view it on mobile search on youtube "Daddy's beard tickles Mason":