Mason Joseph Banning Arrives!

Yes, 3 weeks early, Mason decided it was time to come. His arrival has brought us a wave of emotions that we were lucky enough to avoid with Makenzie. We have had some speed bumps along the last 3 weeks, but seem to come out on top every time so far.

His glucose levels when he was born were low enough to admit him into the NICU. We were there for about 4 days fighting keeping his levels up. They had to put an IV in his head, which was horrible, and the amount of heel pricks he had to endure was awful. After a few nights I will choose to never relive, we were released.

Once home, his bilirubin levels (what causes Jaundice) were too high and weren't coming down. We had to get a Bili-bed and a Bili-blanket brought to our house and give him light treatments. As a new mom, seeing him in this bed crying was so hard. Thankfully my husband in amazing and after the first night, he let me go to the other side of the house and go to bed so I didn't have to hear him. We have finally gotten the levels a little lower, but still have some time ahead of us before he isn't our orange baby:)

Next, we found out that he has what is called a Sacral Dimple. I will spare everyone the details, but what it COULD have been, would have been horrible. It could have effected his growth in a very serious way down the road. We had an ultrasound done of his spine and it seems we are ok and things should grow just as they should.

Heavenly Father has really blessed us with this little guy. With all the drama and tears in the last 3 weeks, it could have been so much worse, I count my blessings. All those little babies in the NICU that were so much worse off than our little one. I will always remember how lucky we are.
He is such a great baby, and so much fun. Makenzie really loves him and is a great big sister. She wants to read him books every night before bed and always worries when he cries. We are so thankful for her and I can't wait until I get this "mom of two" thing down so I can spend more time with her.

Just a few random pics for you... here is one right in the middle of a contraction.. Thanks Kim:)

Drew took over my bed one night:) He is so cute. He really just wanted to use my pump:)