Fourteen years ago today (July 8,1998) I was admitted to the hospital for an induction and birth of my second child. I will for as long as I live never forget the feeling of anxiety (birth) and excitement I had upon waking that morning. The anticipation of having the healthy baby boy that lived inside of me for 9 months, that I talked to, prayed with, sang to, dreamed about and made promises to..the baby boy that I had began to love the very moment I learned of his existence. The many many thoughts about.... what his favorite food would be, will he play sports, ride motorcycles like his daddy, be a good student, will he be a mommies boy...will he be tall like Daddy..... and OH how his sister will adore him and protect him and how he will pester her when she is with her friends and in return how she would embarrass him with lil kisses when he is around his friends. Oh how I couldn't wait for him to make his entrance into this world so I could introduce him to every one, show him off and hold him against me. I knew this was going to be a day of many emotions, but what I did not know was the emotions were not going to the emotions that I had anticipated for so many months...for all of those emotions would gradually as the day grew long turn into fear, sadness and the most excruciating emotional pain that any one could ever imagine. At 12:01 am on July 9th my beautiful baby boy made his entrance into this world...and at that very moment all I can remember thinking was how badly I wanted to put him back into my womb,were I could keep him warm and safe from this wicked, cruel world.... "I wanted a do over"! You see, during the birthing process my healthy lil boy had a stroke...he was immediately intubated and whisked away to the Neonatal Intensive Care unit were he then began having seizures, and the decision was made to transfer him to a hospital that was more equipped to take care of my very sick baby boy. That was the moment that all my wonders about the future turned into the fear of the unknown.....would he live?!?! After one month in the NICU my baby boy came home....upon discharge we were told to take him home, make him comfortable and love him......for his prognosis was poor. We were given a maybe 2 years, and if he lives past that he will be in a vegetative state....This is when my sadness turned to anger and I lost of all faith in God. What did I do to deserve this pain and what could a little innocent baby have done to deserve all this pain and struggle. We took him home and loved him with all we had determined that we would make every moment of his life the best we knew how....All I wanted was for him to be happy and not suffer.
Now let me tell you about the greatest gift I received from God (yeap it didn't take me long to get my faith back).
On July 9th 1998 William (Billy) Steven Mason made his "grand" entrance into this world....and now tomorrow on July 9th 2012 he will be 14 years old. Two years...HUH!!! Struggles?????Nope... we have turned them into challenges.....And let me tell you, he is one of the most determined little warriors you will ever know! What is his favorite food.....Chocolate and Mountain Dew, and because he has a feeding tube that he gets all his nutrition through, he can have all the chocolate and Mountain Dew he wants.....Does he play sports? You better believe it, he loves Baseball and yes he loves riding motorcycles, four wheelers, the gulf cart and bicycles with his daddy! Is he be a good student?? He is an amazing student and has the best of two worlds......he gets to have school at home, sleep in if he wants and doesn't have to be bothered with all the boring subjects like Math and Social Studies,etc. He get to do the things he enjoys doing like cooking, planting plants,playing games and if he's just not up for any of that (or pretends not to be) he gets to have movie day or gets a book read to him!!! He is constantly having pretty female company(PT,OT,Speech, nursing, attendant care(sissy) teacher,and support coordinator's) what boy would not like that????? And Yes he is a mommies boy...except when daddy is home...LOL! Both of his sisters adore him and he even gets to get them in trouble from time to time, like when they are watching him he loves to pull his feeding tube out and make a mess, cause he knows it will get a rise out of mommy, and yes they do embarrass him with kisses in front of his buddies and out in public places. Billy Mason is my "perfect" child, he asks for nothing and appreciates every thing!! He is my rock, my stability ,my teacher and my HERO!!! I thank God every day for having the faith in me to be this special lil angels mommy! He has touched many lives and has made an abundance of friends. Don't let all of his extra's( feeding tube, tracheostomy, wheel chair, etc.) fool you ...he is happy and healthy.....and that is what matters!!!! Happy Birthday Lil Man......Mommy loves you!!
