Wright Baby Blog: Family Time

It's been a while... so I figured that before I fall behind too far I better get a post in. First, I need to share something difficult. We lost a dear friend recently and she was certainly someone we hoped to share our new addition with. So this post is dedicated to Cynthia Cole- who brought some truly wonderful people into our lives and will be dearly missed.

Mason Charles Wright was born at 10:19am on 7/8/09 (yes... we know... cool date) He weighed in at 6lbs 14oz and was 21 inches long. The labor pains had been working on Kelly all day. She was having early labor contractions for several hours, peaking when she took the dogs for a walk and bent over to scoop up some Bella goodness and almost didn't make it back upright. By the time we got in bed around midnight she was feeling more pain with each contraction but since they were still about 7 minutes apart we decided to chalk it up to early labor and try to get some rest.

We "rested" for about 2 hours before Kelly woke up with more severe pain and by 3am she decided to wake me to see what I thought. Being the medical expert that I am I used my greatest resource to help determine if she was indeed in labor: Google! Pregnancy.com convinced me that it was still early labor, but Kelly convinced me to call the doctor. After speaking with the doctor on call we were both sure that it was early labor... until he heard Kelly's labor moan in the background. He quickly said "Nope, that's definitely active labor. You better get her in here as soon as you can."

By 4:15am we had reached the hospital and Kelly was feeling it for sure. My feeble attempts to get her to take a "cleansing breath" with each coming and going contraction failed miserably. But with every lift of the shoulder and firm grip of my arm we were getting closer to meeting Mr. Mason. I just need to say that my wife and her uterus are rockstars! When we arrived Kelly was 3.5cm dilated and she powered her way through about 2 hours of intense contractions. The great nursing staff at St. David's was there at every step to help out but she really did it all on her own. After a couple hours she was finally given an epidural and she was almost 8cm dilated at that time. I think the nurses finally got tired of her telling them to "just give me my damn drugs!" Truth be told, I know she could have done it without the medicine but damn was I glad when it finally kicked in. We both took an opportunity to get some rest before the big push.

After a couple hours of sleep the nurse woke Kelly up to begin pushing. Much to my surprise I was given the task of holding a leg throughout the process. I had planned to be as involved as possible but I was expecting that to include encouraging from Kelly's shoulder side and eventually cutting the umbilical cord. After another hour I got to do just that. Kelly pushed like Olin Kreutz against the Packers d-line and by 10am Dr. J was on her way over to welcome our baby boy. By the time the doc arrived Kelly had to give one good push and he was out. I had a slight urge to yell "Free!!" like Dave Chappelle in Half Baked when he got out of work, but I held back.

Mason came out Superman style with one fist tucked tightly against his head. Then he proceeded to pee all over the Dr. J and tried to hit his dad but I was quick to dodge the stream. Until that moment we were up in the air about names- a toss up between Mason and Benjamin. But Ben is a nice boy... not someone whose first earthly act is to pee all over people and then scream his head off. So it was Mason. The nurse got him cleaned up while I watched and snapped a few pics. Then I got to bring him to meet his mom. I have to say that watching him come into this world was truly the most amazing thing my eyes have seen. I know it's cliche but it really is true. I'm still in disbelief that we actually made a human being... and he's awesome... and we get to keep him :) Of course, Kelly immediately fell in love with him as well and we had our first official family moment (sorry Bella and Tater).

After a couple sleepless nights in the hospital we finally made it home. I'm giving a plug for St. David's North Austin Medical Center- that place is amazing! The nurses were so helpful and always there when we needed them. They made the stay so much better and really calmed us nervous new parents down. So for any ladies reading this that are thinking baby in the near future- you know where we'd recommend. Anyway, we were lucky to be graced with plenty of visitors from Convio and other friends while in the hospital (too many to name) and when we got home we had more. Our neighbors Lee and Meagan and Ryan and Izumi stopped by on Friday and Saturday and brought us some delicious food and desserts and then Mason got to meet his first extended family member- cousin Michelle.

Shell-bell (that's right Michelle- I just outed you on the blog!) was in Houston for work and made the trip to Austin for the night. It was a great reminder of how amazing our families are and how much we enjoy spending time with them. Michelle basically catered to us the whole time she was here- grabbing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us and helping with Mason. She also humored us with some good stories and we were sad to see her go on Sunday.

The following week was a crazy one. We tried our best to grab a few hours of rest between feedings and diaper changes. It was kind of like trying to get to sleep on Christmas Eve when you were 5 years old... so much anticipation of what's to come that you can't shut your mind off. Every little coo and heavy breath made us check on him until we finally gave in to exhaustion. There is something that's been bothering me though- why is every baby wipe now "sensitive"? Are there insensitive wipes that are made of sandpaper and drenched in alcohol? It's like extra strength pain killers... what happened to good old strength? It was strong enough in the past.

Anyway- we also took the little man to the doctor that Monday for his first checkup. He had already gained a couple ounces so Dr. Sharpe was very happy and he got a good health report otherwise. Kelly and I spent the week getting to know our new addition and routine and watching lots of daytime TV together- which really sucks by the way. Thank God for the British Open, although I was kinda pulling for Tom Watson to pull it off.

On Saturday Kelly's sister Stacy arrived. She picked right up where Michelle left off, going so far as to do our laundry twice and cook us a delicious dinner. Aunt Stacy was great and a much needed helpful hand as I went back to work on Monday. That night Grandma McBreen arrived and when I got home I was greeted by my very own version of a sex and the city episode... minus the annoying red headed one... and please don't ask me who Samantha was cause I hadn't thought out my joke that far until now. Anyway, having the ladies around was great. I'm sure there were tears shed when Stacy left on Wednesday and my pile of laundry hasn't been touched since she left... come back Stacy!!!

The same morning that Stacy left we had our second doctor's appointment. Mason weighed in at 8lbs 2.5oz this time around so he gained over a pound in a week's time. The nurses and doctor were amazed at his eating ability and overall health. He even got a heel prick to run some drug tests and didn't even flinch, although I think Kelly was ready to pass out.

The rest of the week we enjoyed Grandma's home cooking and visits from more friends. Mason got to meet another baby for the first time when Jeff, Amy, Anna, and her daughter Mia came to the house. The two almost look like they could be siblings with their long jet black hair and big eyes. Mia is only 4 months old but I was amazed at how much bigger than Mason she is. I think Kelly and I are going to have some sculpted arms in a few months as the load gets heavier. I really never thought of a baby as a workout device but there's an added bonus- that and a large tax write-off. Thanks Mason!

This weekend Kathy and I snuck away to go golfing and collectively took enough strokes for a full PGA tournament. I got a quick swing fix from one of the guys we were playing with and made par on 3 out of my last 4 holes. You'd think that would make me happy but it really just made me angry that I hadn't been hitting the ball like that before. Why do I golf? Why?

So that bring us up to date. More to come soon as we have a week break and then the Wright Grandparents come to down! We're as excited as they are for them to meet Mason and I'm hoping my mom will make some of her fried chicken and potato salad ;) Keep checking for pictures at our online gallery as I'm taking way too many photos to post them all on the blog. Here are some select pics from the past couple weeks below: