your birth

Mason,

Daddy and I always joked during pregnancy that you seemed to be an obedient baby. You cooperated during ultrasounds. Your growth was always right on target, if not a bit ahead of where you should have been. You plumped up nice and healthy in the womb. You allowed me to finish working through the date I committed to (September 9th). You let Daddy get through the Congressional hearing he was in charge of, which coincidentally fell on your due date (September 14th).

My first week of maternity leave, which began on September 12th, I walked and ran in earnest, trying to move you along toward being born. I ran two miles that week, and walked 16 miles. Then, on Friday, September 16th, I made and ate an Atlanta restaurant's eggplant parmigiana that's famous for sending women into labor. In retrospect, I wasn't feeling well on that Friday anyway. And, I don't know if the excessive walking/running that week or the eggplant parmigiana had their intended effects, but you decided to start making your way the afternoon of Friday, September 16th. But again, you proved yourself to be an accommodating baby. You allowed Daddy to finish up his work week and he arrived home at a normal time on Friday evening. Then you kicked it into high gear, but not before you allowed us to finish up some last minute chores around the house while I labored. We finished packing our hospital bags, ran the dishwasher, washed a load of towels, collected and disposed of the garbage, and even wrote a few thank you notes, which we mailed on our drive to the hospital!

You even granted us time and energy to take one last picture as we left the house shortly after midnight on Saturday, September 17th. We set up the shot in the living room and used the timer on our camera.

Upon arriving at the hospital, we learned that the Lord, and you, truly have perfect timing. Apparently, many babies decided to be born the weekend you were, and the labor and delivery unit had been crazy earlier that evening. They ran out of rooms and women had to labor in the hospital's waiting room. But, we arrived during a lull, and were lucky enough to get a room. We heard that things picked up again a few hours after we arrived, so we were thankful that the timing worked out just right.

Daddy and I walked the hospital halls, and then I got the magic drugs by 4 AM, which allowed Daddy and me to sleep for a few hours. The nurse woke us up at 7 AM, broke my water, and we went back to sleep until 9 AM. Things moved along pretty quickly after that; I started pushing at 11:19 AM, and you were born at 12:10 PM. Apparently, you wanted to make your appearance before the Tennessee Vols took on the Florida Gators at 3:30 PM. It was the perfect day, even though this was probably the first TN/FL game in years that Daddy didn't get to attend or even watch, but he didn't care about missing it one bit. My, how quickly priorities change!

 
Your cord was wrapped around your neck, but you were fine, and started crying soon after the doctor got you untangled. A minute after you were born, they plopped you on my chest. Daddy was standing over my left shoulder, and when you heard his voice, you arched your neck to look back to find him. You knew your daddy's voice. Our hearts have not been the same since that moment.

We love you and we're glad you're here!

Mommy