Mason's Backstory
In loving memory of
Mason Wollacott
24.06.2021
Mason was born sleeping at 1.41am on Thursday, 24th June, 2021 weighing 400g. He was a much anticipated little brother for our eldest son, Oli.
Being my second pregnancy, we’d had one happy, healthy baby already, nothing could prepare us for the tragic loss of Mason.
My pregnancy with Mason had felt very similar to that which I had with our eldest. Yet, after several scans, at 20 weeks I was told the heartbreaking news that there was something wrong with Mason’s heart. Nothing could have prepared us for the shock of that. I would ask, how could this be? We’d had several scans by that point and nothing had been spotted. After the 16-week scan, I finally felt like I could relax and my partner, Adam, and I were delighted to find out that Oli was going to have the little brother we’d wanted. I even went to the 20-week scan alone!
Nothing could prepare me for the moment when I was taken by the sonographer to a room ready to be told that Mason’s heart was not developed fully. How could this be? What would that mean? I could feel Mason kicking inside me. He seemed fine. However, this was not the case.
After the initial diagnosis, we were told that we’d need an appointment with a specialist to confirm this. Thankfully, this was only two days later, though it must have felt like a lifetime and all the while I could feel my little boy growing and kicking inside me.
Finally, the day arrived. My partner and I went to see the specialist. It was far worse than anyone could have expected. Half of Mason’s heart was under-formed and on the wrong side of his tiny body. In addition, the detailed scans showed that his oesaphagus was malformed and his stomach was missing. If they were to operate on his heart, Mason would struggle to gain the correct nutritions. And if they operated on his stomach, his heart would not withstand the stress. Our perfect little boy was so poorly, yet still I could feel him growing, moving and kicking inside me. During the car ride home we hardly said anything, we were stunned by just how poorly our little boy was.
Following the consultation, we had to make the heart-wrenching decision to bring Mason’s birth forward and deliver him early. Mason’s chances of survival were extremely low and all the time he lived, he was suffering.
A week later, I was admitted to our local hospital where I was induced. Mason was born sleeping at 1.41am the following day after a long labour. As he had passed away on birth, we were given the chance to spend precious time with Mason, just the three of us. Nothing can take away these precious few hours together where we held Mason in our arms and cared for him; we’ll treasure them forever.
Although he weighed only 400g, our darling boy has left such big foot prints on the hearts of so many people and lives on in our thoughts. We regularly talk to our little boy, Oli about his brother Mason, especially when we look at the stars. Despite his short time on Earth, we will never forget our little Mason.
Forever in our thoughts and hearts!
All our love,
Mommy & Daddy
X x x x x x x x x
Being my second pregnancy, we’d had one happy, healthy baby already, nothing could prepare us for the tragic loss of Mason.
My pregnancy with Mason had felt very similar to that which I had with our eldest. Yet, after several scans, at 20 weeks I was told the heartbreaking news that there was something wrong with Mason’s heart. Nothing could have prepared us for the shock of that. I would ask, how could this be? We’d had several scans by that point and nothing had been spotted. After the 16-week scan, I finally felt like I could relax and my partner, Adam, and I were delighted to find out that Oli was going to have the little brother we’d wanted. I even went to the 20-week scan alone!
Nothing could prepare me for the moment when I was taken by the sonographer to a room ready to be told that Mason’s heart was not developed fully. How could this be? What would that mean? I could feel Mason kicking inside me. He seemed fine. However, this was not the case.
After the initial diagnosis, we were told that we’d need an appointment with a specialist to confirm this. Thankfully, this was only two days later, though it must have felt like a lifetime and all the while I could feel my little boy growing and kicking inside me.
Finally, the day arrived. My partner and I went to see the specialist. It was far worse than anyone could have expected. Half of Mason’s heart was under-formed and on the wrong side of his tiny body. In addition, the detailed scans showed that his oesaphagus was malformed and his stomach was missing. If they were to operate on his heart, Mason would struggle to gain the correct nutritions. And if they operated on his stomach, his heart would not withstand the stress. Our perfect little boy was so poorly, yet still I could feel him growing, moving and kicking inside me. During the car ride home we hardly said anything, we were stunned by just how poorly our little boy was.
Following the consultation, we had to make the heart-wrenching decision to bring Mason’s birth forward and deliver him early. Mason’s chances of survival were extremely low and all the time he lived, he was suffering.
A week later, I was admitted to our local hospital where I was induced. Mason was born sleeping at 1.41am the following day after a long labour. As he had passed away on birth, we were given the chance to spend precious time with Mason, just the three of us. Nothing can take away these precious few hours together where we held Mason in our arms and cared for him; we’ll treasure them forever.
Although he weighed only 400g, our darling boy has left such big foot prints on the hearts of so many people and lives on in our thoughts. We regularly talk to our little boy, Oli about his brother Mason, especially when we look at the stars. Despite his short time on Earth, we will never forget our little Mason.
Forever in our thoughts and hearts!
All our love,
Mommy & Daddy
X x x x x x x x x
