olin update

as we reach mason being 18 days old, i found out what his hurry to come into this world was, TO FAIL TESTS!!  he's not even in school yet, and he knows how to fail them.  in the hospital, he failed his hearing test in both ears.  yesterday, we went back for a recheck and he passed in the right ear, but failed in the left.  he has fluid in the left ear which is causing him to not hear or react to the tests.  unfortunately, we now have another appointment on the 27th this month for a 2 hour screening to see how the fluid is affecting his hearing and to see how he is hearing in the right ear.  this is typical of down syndrome babies.  i also got a call yesterday afternoon saying that he had failed his newborn screening test (heel prick test) when he was in the hospital.  they send off the blood to the state and they test it.  i'm not really sure what this test tests for, but anyway, he failed it.

as for jay, he loves his new brother.  he'll kiss him on the forehead and put a blanket on him when it falls off.  jay is basically just curious about his new brother.  when is he going to talk and walk?  eat big boy food? and so forth.  he doesn't seem jealous of him yet.  yesterday, he thought mason was hot so he had to take off his jacket.  jay constantly says the phrase "when i was a baby..." and follows it with "i couldn't walk" or "i couldn't talk".  it is really funny to hear him say this.

as for garrett and i, we are getting sleep.  mason doesn't really cry and i've been setting my alarm to wake me up to feed him in the night every 3 to 4 hours.  this is much different from jay who cried and kept us up through the night.  mason hardly makes a sound and when he does, it really isn't that loud.

family of four

we've changed from a family of 3 to a family of 4.  so far so good.  the last two nights mason has been really good.  he hasn't cried yet and we've gotten more sleep than anticipated.  we just wake to feed him and go back to sleep.  that's about the same thing during the day as well.  he will open his eyes and be awake for a while, but for the most part is motionless the rest of the day.

as for his health, mason is doing well.  no major problems that we know of.  in the hospital he did fail his hearing test, but that is not uncommon of babies.  we go back in two weeks to check that out.  he did have an echo done on his heart.  it did show a place in his heart that had not closed up yet, but should soon after birth.  it is nothing to worry about and they will just check it in about 2 months.  when the nurse practitioners checked mason in the hospital they never heard a murmur on his heart which is good.  he eats well at most feedings, but it makes it a little harder when he is asleep.

here's some pictures from the hospital that we want to share with you:

mason is assuming the position he's been in since he's arrived home.

here are the three of us minutes after mason was born.

uncle chip holding carson (6 days older than mason) and mason. all the cousins on the olin side of the family.

i think jay likes being an older brother.

the olin's and some of the wagoner's

peacefully sleeping.  i'm a babydoll.

the wagoner side of the family.

cousins on the wagoner side.

we are a family of four now.

i had to throw this one in there because my dad is never in pictures.  he's always on the other side of the camera.

one excited brother.  notice he's wearing his panther jersey; his favorite.

tuesday afternoon.  i'm ready to go home.  he's so tiny.

Mason...you only hear this in movies

It's weird to say this is our birth story of mason. His grand entrance was far from sweet and relaxing. On Saturday, contractions started around 5 or 6 in the morning erratic and spaced out probably 10 to 6 minutes apart. Nothing unusual since at the last appointments the doctor kept asking if I had been having any contractions through the weeks. I hadn't had any, so to me it could have been Braxton hicks. As the day progressed and Garrett worked outside at our house and then left to go to help at his brothers house. I was doing laundry and cleaning house and then the contractions started to get closer together. By 1:15 or so, I called Garrett to let him know that he needed to come home because the contractions were about 2 minutes apart and a little stronger. When he got home, we threw some things together with the help of my mom and were off to the hospital by 2:00. The contractions were definitely intense. At first I was saying I better be at least 5 cm, to I need an epidural immediately, to by the time we reached the parking deck, this baby is coming and coming now. Garrett got a wheel chair and rushed me into the hospital screaming. He called to the people in the elevator to hold the elevator. As we got in, I was having a huge contraction and screamed pretty loud. I think we pretty much scared the family of three with a little 3 or 4 year old looking to go to a big brother/big sister class. Once we reached the 8th floor, Garrett was running out of the elevator. We had a minor set back when a nurse was trying to help us through a door and by accident locked one of the wheels on the wheel chair. We reached the nurses station where 4 or 5 nurses were standing and we said that the baby is literally coming now. They rush us into a room and we thought it was about 2:25 at this time. With one push, the water sac was hanging out and they popped it at 2:28. Two more pushes Mason's head was out, and two more he was out at 2:31. Thanks to the nurses who delivered him and were so quick to respond. The doctor from another practice arrived a little later to finish everything up. Finally, a doctor from our practice made it. She had been biking on the booty loop and was the farthest from her car. Needless to say, if there is a next time and there are any contractions at all, we'll be heading to the hospital earlier. Mason Garrett was born Saturday, October 1st, 6 pounds 11 ounces, 20.5 inches long at 2:31 pm. Pictures to come later.