Photo Card

Hello Chalkboard Boy Baby Announcements

Shutterfly has cute baby announcements and Valentine's Day cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

The Birth Story

The Memorial Day Concert

The last big "thing" Carl and I did before Mason was born was go to the Memorial Day Concert on the US Capitol lawn.  It ended up being stopped early because of dangerous weather - a line of thunderstorms rolled through right at the wrong time.  This is the last "belly" picture I have of myself before I went into labor.  

Hug Your Cat Day

Monday, June 4th was Hug Your Cat Day.  I know that because I worked that day, and our calendar at school had the silly holidays marked out.  For some reason, this stuck out in my mind, and before I went to bed, I asked Carl to take a picture of me hugging Remy.  Before we fell asleep, we talked about my last day, and how close to my due date I'd continue to work.  We decided that my last day could be Wednesday, June 6th.  Mason was due to be born on the 8th, but so few babes are born on their due dates!

Contractions?

I was terrified that when the time came, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the practice Braxton-Hicks contractions and the "real thing."  It turns out that my fears were unfounded.  The "real thing" was much more painful!  Around midnight, I started getting contractions.  They would last about 30 seconds and made falling asleep difficult.  I would start to fall asleep just as another round would start. At first, they were sporadic.  By 1am, I was watching the clock to see how often they were happening, and I was counting to see how long they were lasting.  By 2 am, they were about 6 minutes apart and lasting 45 seconds.  At 3:30am, Carl rolled over and woke up to me pacing the bedroom floor during the contractions.  My pregnant, emotional self was angry that he had not mentally felt my pain IN HIS SLEEP and gotten up before that.  I asked him to officially time the contractions' length and see how far apart they were.  They were between 45-60 seconds long and were coming every 4 minutes.  At 4:15am, we decided to call the doctor.

We Were Prepared, I Swear...

Everyone asked me if I had a hospital bag packed.  The truth was, YES, I had one packed!  But it wasn't completely packed.  In fact, it only had a robe, 2 books, and 6 pairs of underwear in it.  It seemed pretty complete to me at the time.  While we waited for the doctor to call us back, I showered, and Carl very responsibly packed up our hospital bag with everything else we might need.  

The Car Ride

The doctor took too long to call us back!  We left the house at around 4:45am to head to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital.  It's about 25 minutes away, and we figured the doctor could call us while we were on the way.  Carl decided it was a good idea to stop and get gas on the way.  We called the doctor back at about 4:50am just to make sure we were doing the right thing by heading into Labor and Delivery.  He told me I was a "candidate" to go to the hospital.  Carl says I was very quiet through my contractions while we were heading in.  He called my parents to tell them I was heading in to the hospital - they left Rochester a half hour later to come to DC.

Labor...

We arrived at the hospital around 5:30am.  We were triaged and found out that I was completely effaced and 3cm dilated.  The contractions were still coming on strong.  The especially strong ones made me vomit.  All that good ice water I'd been drinking the night before was coming back to haunt me!  I got pretty dehydrated.  They put us in a very nice labor and delivery room and tried to hook me up to an IV.  It took 4 tries, but they finally got it in!  The strong contractions were still making me vomit.  The pain between contractions never really went away, since all the muscles in my middle were tensed and sore from throwing up.  The doc suggested that I think about getting an epidural to help with that issue.  I considered it and decided to go ahead and get one.  

By the time I got an epidural, I was 6cm dilated.  My OB/GYN doctor, Dr. Apgar, came and checked on me around 9:45am.  She told me that if my labor kept progressing as nicely as it had been, this baby would be born by lunch!  I was shocked, as everyone told me first babies took forever and a day to arrive.  After everyone left the room to let me contract in peace and get more ready for this baby, I quick called my parents to give them an update.  Then I turned on my AC/DC Pandora station and tried to mentally prepare myself.  

...And Delivery

Mason's first fully-clothed picture (with dad)

At 11:45, Dr. Apgar and a nurse came in to check on my progress.  They exchanged some reasonably surprised words, and said to me, "We can see his head.  Are you ready to have a baby?"  They had to break my water before I started pushing.  Everyone scrambled a little bit to get prepared to "catch" the babe as he came out.  It took 5 contractions for the baby to completely come out - 3 pushes for each contraction.  He had pooped in the uterus, and so they were concerned about getting all the meconium out of his lungs, nose, and mouth.  They started sucking it out of him before he was completely out of ME!  Dr. Apgar handed Carl the fancy surgery scissors and said, "Cut the cord, dad."  He was taken a little aback, but did what he was told!  When his body was fully out, they laid his wet, gooey body on my chest and let me hold him.  It was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.  The nurses took him and cleaned him up.  Carl got to go watch while I got stitched up.  

Mason's first picture with mom

The Stats

William Mason Bridges was born at 12:21pm on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012.  He weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces.  He measured in at 20.25 inches.  His noggin was 35cm around, and his chest was 33cm.  

The Name

William Mason Bridges has a family name!  His father (always called Carl) is named William Carl Bridges.  My maiden name is Mason.  We love that his name is so meaningful in so many ways and incorporates so many people that we cherish in our lives.