Kassidy and I stayed in the hospital all day on the 19th, recovering from the early morning birth of Mason. We took turns holding him and trying to nap, and our Moms both paid us a visit so I could go stretch my legs. About mid-day we began to get worried, but I wrote it off to us being freaked-out first time parents. Mason wasn't eating much, and what he did eat came right back up soon after. Also, while I initially thought this rocked, he hadn't pooped either. The nurses started to visit with more frequency, and by the end of the day when he still hadn't pooped and his vomit was coming up yellow, we realized that there might be a problem. They took him back in for observation and we were informed that he had an intestinal obstruction that would likely require surgery. First thing the following morning, an intensive care team from Fairfax INOVA hospital showed up with all the gear they needed to transport Mason to their hospital for the emergency surgery.
We followed as soon as we were able to get Kassidy checked out of Reston Hospital and met our families over there. The doctors/surgeons explained to us that they had found a piece of Mason's bowel that had folded over itself and scar tissue had formed, making a solid knot that nothing could pass through. For the next 4-5 hours, they had him sedated while they cut out the piece of ruined intestine and sewed the two ends back together. Fortunately for Mason, they were able to do the circumcision while he was knocked out, providing a bright spot in an otherwise not-so-excellent day!
Finally the surgeon came to us with great news. The surgery had been successful and Mason would recover just fine. The only sucky part was that he would have to stay in the NICU there for a month while his lower intestine stretched and grew to match the size of the upper piece they had sewn it to.
We rushed in to see Mason as soon as we were allowed to, and it was pretty tough seeing him like this. We were lucky to have been able to spend an entire day with him before he had to get the surgery, but it made it even harder to then know that we wouldn't be able to hold him or bring him home for a long time. How on earth Heavenly Father ever could let his son die is completely beyond my comprehension, but it must take someone completely perfect in all aspects to go through with that, because I was dying just seeing Mason hooked up to all that equipment, and I knew ultimately everything was going to be ok.
Well, to make a long story short, I got a job right after Mason went in to the hospital, and Kassidy was amazing and went and spent most of every single day with him, sitting there with him, helping change diapers and feed him when she was allowed to, talking to him, and reminding him that he had parents who loved him. As anybody who has had a child sick, or in the NICU knows, there is nothing harder than having to leave him when it's time to go home. Luckily, we were blessed to have friends and family there with us, as well as great nurses and doctors who were comforting in their knowledge and their love for our kid.
Heavenly Father definitely has it in mind to teach Kassidy and I patience! Everything from Mason being born almost a week after he was due, to the month we had to wait until we could bring him home has in fact been a blessing in disguise, helping us to love one another and especially our baby more than we ever could have imagined.
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