Mason Kane McBride
Our precious angel came to us 6 weeks early on June 13, 2007. I got a call at work from the hospital, his mother was there and he wasn't doing well so we were having a baby today! What a plethera of emotions! Fear-it's too soon! Joy-we get to see him! Hope-please God, let him be ok! I got to the hospital just before they took his mom in for an emergency C-section and frantically changed into scrubs then waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity before they let me into the OR. His mommy was scared-me too! We had sent my husband to find daddy and they weren't there yet. We both waited to see whether or not we would hear a cry when they took him out and then...a tiny little cry but a cry none the less! We were thrilled and so were the doctors because he was breathing on his own~ for the moment anyway. He weighed in at 3 pounds 3 oz- so tiny! They whisked him away and I went out and there were my husband and son coming down the hall as though they were ready to break down the doors! The first 24 hours were very scary, he ended up on a ventilator and was having multiple problems with blood sugar, clotting and so many more things but he was a little fighter and rallied over the next week. He got to come home at 3 weeks old weighing not quite 4 pounds yet. What a little miracle he was!
At 4 months old, Mason came to live with me and my husband. At 6 months old he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. I was devastated! I loved him even more and was worried for him but was reassured this would not affect his life expectancy. It did however start a flurry of appointments! He had MRI's, EEG's, many assessments for his motor skills and cognitive skills along with trips to Helena for specialists. The consensus was that, yes, he was very delayed in motor skills but a smart little boy and we were pleased to watch his progress over the next 2 years.
Never has there been such a happy boy! He would break out in a smile every time he would see his daddy, mommy, Papa or especially his twin uncles. The whole family chipped in, who would take him to physical therapy on this day and who had to work, occupational therapy, speech therapy, doctor's appointments, blood draws, dietitian appointments and on and on. We all pulled together to make sure he got everything he needed, aunts, uncles, friends-he touched everyone's lives and left footprints on their hearts.
There were camping trips where we made his bed in the bathtub of the fifth wheel, rides on the 4-wheeler, staying up all night rocking when he had ear infections and colds, a short stay in the hospital where he slept wonderfully and I didn't sleep at all!
In July of 2009, our entire family took a trip to the Oregon coast for a week. Little did we know that it would be our last trip with our little angel. We had a wonderful time, walks on the beach, crabbing, playing games. He was so happy! He was starting to walk with a walker, he would "army crawl" to me across a mat, he could say on and hi! He was doing so well!
When we got back he starting having trouble keeping his medication down. We were trying a lot of different things to keep them down but it wasn't working. Thursday night he stayed with his daddy and Friday morning I got a hysterical call from him.
Mason was gone! I was trying to find clothes to put on and tell him how to do CPR at the same time all the while praying to myself and pleading that this can't really be happening! As I drove to the hospital I kept thinking, "this isn't real. It can't be real." But it was real. Mason had had a seizure in his sleep and died during the night. My husband was outside waiting for me at the hospital and I knew because he was crying. I felt like someone had sucker-punched me! But my next thought was, "I have to keep it together for my son, he needs me now." I went into the room where he was holding our precious little boy and he was crying, "Mom, my son is dead!" My heart was broken for both of them.
As we rode home together from the hospital it seemed so surreal. Already the questions were coming. Do we want a cremation? Where do we want him buried? What day will it be? This is the bill, it needs to be paid at the time of service.
How can you comprehend all of it at once? Decisions and plans and still be able to grieve for your baby?
I felt like my world had stopped and yet everyone else's was still spinning and expecting me to keep up with them! We made it through the service and the burial, getting a marker and then trying to move on. But I couldn't. I wanted to find a way that I could keep his memory alive, a way to help other parents who were going through the same devastation, but how? Through a conversation with another mother who had gone through a loss (a wonderful woman by the way) it finally hit me like a ton of bricks! And that is how this foundation came to be.
My hope is that I can help ease the horrific pain that comes with the loss of a child by easing the financial burden that comes with it. Sometimes, helping others through a pain like your own is the only way to help yourself.
Run with the angels baby boy! I know you are up there doing summersaults and laughing, just waiting for the rest of us and saving us the best seat at the table.
At 4 months old, Mason came to live with me and my husband. At 6 months old he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. I was devastated! I loved him even more and was worried for him but was reassured this would not affect his life expectancy. It did however start a flurry of appointments! He had MRI's, EEG's, many assessments for his motor skills and cognitive skills along with trips to Helena for specialists. The consensus was that, yes, he was very delayed in motor skills but a smart little boy and we were pleased to watch his progress over the next 2 years.
Never has there been such a happy boy! He would break out in a smile every time he would see his daddy, mommy, Papa or especially his twin uncles. The whole family chipped in, who would take him to physical therapy on this day and who had to work, occupational therapy, speech therapy, doctor's appointments, blood draws, dietitian appointments and on and on. We all pulled together to make sure he got everything he needed, aunts, uncles, friends-he touched everyone's lives and left footprints on their hearts.
There were camping trips where we made his bed in the bathtub of the fifth wheel, rides on the 4-wheeler, staying up all night rocking when he had ear infections and colds, a short stay in the hospital where he slept wonderfully and I didn't sleep at all!
In July of 2009, our entire family took a trip to the Oregon coast for a week. Little did we know that it would be our last trip with our little angel. We had a wonderful time, walks on the beach, crabbing, playing games. He was so happy! He was starting to walk with a walker, he would "army crawl" to me across a mat, he could say on and hi! He was doing so well!
When we got back he starting having trouble keeping his medication down. We were trying a lot of different things to keep them down but it wasn't working. Thursday night he stayed with his daddy and Friday morning I got a hysterical call from him.
Mason was gone! I was trying to find clothes to put on and tell him how to do CPR at the same time all the while praying to myself and pleading that this can't really be happening! As I drove to the hospital I kept thinking, "this isn't real. It can't be real." But it was real. Mason had had a seizure in his sleep and died during the night. My husband was outside waiting for me at the hospital and I knew because he was crying. I felt like someone had sucker-punched me! But my next thought was, "I have to keep it together for my son, he needs me now." I went into the room where he was holding our precious little boy and he was crying, "Mom, my son is dead!" My heart was broken for both of them.
As we rode home together from the hospital it seemed so surreal. Already the questions were coming. Do we want a cremation? Where do we want him buried? What day will it be? This is the bill, it needs to be paid at the time of service.
How can you comprehend all of it at once? Decisions and plans and still be able to grieve for your baby?
I felt like my world had stopped and yet everyone else's was still spinning and expecting me to keep up with them! We made it through the service and the burial, getting a marker and then trying to move on. But I couldn't. I wanted to find a way that I could keep his memory alive, a way to help other parents who were going through the same devastation, but how? Through a conversation with another mother who had gone through a loss (a wonderful woman by the way) it finally hit me like a ton of bricks! And that is how this foundation came to be.
My hope is that I can help ease the horrific pain that comes with the loss of a child by easing the financial burden that comes with it. Sometimes, helping others through a pain like your own is the only way to help yourself.
Run with the angels baby boy! I know you are up there doing summersaults and laughing, just waiting for the rest of us and saving us the best seat at the table.
