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.

In a week...

It's almost that time for Mason to arrive. A week from today, Thursday, October 6th, we are going into the hospital to be induced at 7:30 in the morning. I'm not looking forward to the whole waiting game all day though. The doctors are choosing to induce at 39 weeks because there is no benefit for Mason to be inside until 40 weeks. Plus, by going to 40 weeks, the risk of stillborn is higher, especially in Down Syndrome babies. Fortunately, everything looks good on my end and looks like inducing should be fine, although the average induction lasts 12 hours. No fun!! It's crazy to think that in a week or less we will be introducing our newest addition, Mason, into this world. Of course, I'm going crazy trying to get everything ready at school and making sure my lesson plans are in order and the sub has everything she needs. I think teaching is one of the only jobs that you just don't leave when you go on maternity leave. There is tons of work that goes into it and me being me, especially right now, wants it to be perfect. Knowing this, you would think I've packed and been ready for the hospital for a while. It's the complete opposite. No bags are packed, but the fridge is packed with food for when we get back home. I still need to clean my house this weekend, so hopefully Mason doesn't want to make his entrance too early. On the otherhand, Jay can't wait for Mason to get here because that's when we told him he could get his batman costume for Halloween. Telling him that Halloween was a month a way wasn't working and didn't make sense to him. To be three again and have no sense of time. Look for pictures this coming week after Mason is here.

hanging in there

okay, so we are still here, just haven't given a lot of time to writing on here lately.  our weekends and days have been pretty busy and full.  between getting all my lesson plans done for geometry, doctors appointments, and preparing for a new little one to come in the next few weeks, time just slips away from us.  plus, we all could use a nap here or there and we would rather do that then be on a computer all the time.

mason update:

(35 1/2 weeks)

as for mason, we went to the maternal/fetal doctor this past friday and everything seems to be looking good on his end.  he is about 4 lbs 12 oz (23rd percentile) which is fine for down syndrome babies.  the doctor felt that this was in normal range.  he glanced over everything and thinks it all looks fine to his eyes.  we will know more once he is here about his heart and everything.  his profile pictures on the 3d and 4d ultrasounds really look like jay.  it is so cool to see.  i decided to ask the doctor what would he recommend to my ob about delivery.  he said as long as my cervix is favorable, that he would probably induce at 39 weeks.  if not, let me go an extra week and then see.  so great news to us for now.  we graduated and won't be seeing that doctor anymore.  i'm glad because i'm tired of so many different appointments.

jay update:

(3 years old)

yeah, jay keeps us on our toes.  being three just means he talks your ears off, climbs everywhere, and has a personality like no one else.  we love that he is a happy kid and enjoys playing with his friends at school and sunday school.  over the past month, we've really had fun with jay and watching him grow up.  today when we got home from church, i quickly ran to the store to grab a few things and when i came home, garrett and jay had their panthers' jerseys on.  i walked in the door and jay kept saying "mommy your panthers jersey is upstairs" as if i didn't know i had one.  he is so particular about his clothes and what we wear and where we go.  it is really funny.  as for his eating these days, it has improved tremendously.  he will eat about anything we eat and we don't take extra food with us out to resturants.  he just eats off of our plates.  we still refuse to buy him his own meal since he won't eat the whole thing.  he can deal with what we have for now.  jay also has been moved to a full bed instead of the toddler bed.  we needed to transform it back into a crib for mason's room.  he was so excited this week to get it.  he no longer wants to sleep with his blanket or monkey, but the baseball and football pillows we bought for his bed.  he thinks he's a big boy now.

as for the last month, here are a few pictures starting with some of the most recent to jay's birthday party in the middle of august.

jay can climb on the barstools to the counter and wash his own dishes, even after i said just put it in the sink and i'll get it.

we went to the stump town parade in matthews last weekend.  jay wanted candy!!  sorry, no good pictures were taken of jay during the parade.  i just wanted to throw in one.

jay has gotten really good on his bike that uncle chip gave him for his birthday.  we just make him wear the helmet, but he insisted the other day to wear the knee pads and wrist pads we bought to go with his scooter.  i think he is pretty well covered.

here's jay's new bed.  he took to it really well.  he hasn't fallen out yet, but i'm guessing he might some time soon.

mason's crib made it into his room this week.  we are ready for him.

garrett painted his room the other week and put his name on his wall.  it looks great.

on friday, we went to qudoba to eat dinner with the williams'.  afterward we went out to the fountain where jay was still hungry and i gave him the only rice krispie treat.  livvie wanted one too, so they decided to share.  livvie got the last bite though.  that a girl!!

i was lazy and didn't post anything from jay's 3rd birthday party.  you can see more pictures on my Facebook page, but here are a few pictures you can look at.  thank goodness it didn't rain!

piñata time!!  the kids loved hitting the piñata and getting all the candy afterward.

the kids eating cupcakes.

i think our child needs some body fat.  he is so cold in this picture.  we've been feeding him cookies lately to fatten him up.  i don't think it's helping.

Movin' on up

To add to yesterday's post, Jay went to the doctor today for his 3 year check up. He weighs 26 pounds (10th percentile, up from the 3rd) and is 3 feet tall (25th percentile) He's getting bigger.

Also, to add to Mason, he weighs about 3.4 pounds (30th percentile).

Both look great and are right on track.

jay and mason

4 weeks later and we're back with another update on mason.  there is not anything new to say this week, except that the doctor thinks everything looks good.  the ventricles in the brain look normal.  as far as he can tell, the heart looks good and everything looks to be on track for a 31 week baby.  of course, more will be told when he is born and has an echocardiogram done.  this was a pretty short doctor's visit and we go back in 4 more weeks for probably the last ultrasound at 35 weeks.  we wanted to leave you with 2 3-d photos from the visit today.

today was also jay's birthday!!  he turned 3 today.  this morning we don't think it had set in that it was his birthday.  he just knew it was water day at school and that was what he was looking forward to.  when he got to school, his teacher, Ms. Sue, from when he was an infant was ready for him to come into her room so she could give him balloons, a cake and a card.  she always does something special for him on his birthday.  we sent cookies and capri suns for the afternoon snack at school and we believe he liked that.  when i picked him up from school, his teacher, Ms. Mary really wanted him to open his gift from her.  she had bought him a watch.  he's been wearing that watch all night and is even sleeping with it on.  jay and i made our way to the kitchen so my mom could see him and the all the ladies were ready to sing happy birthday and give him a brownie with candles to blow out.  i think jay really got the special treatment today!!  by the time he went to bed, he knew it was his birthday.

here's Ms. Sue's cake.

jay's ready to blow out the candles.

uncle chip and aunt kim gave jay a bike for his birthday.  he's getting good at it.  don't worry, he has a helmet coming from someone else for his birthday.