Yesterday was a LONG day for me but it was a good one. I went back to work (YAY!) which was a huge plus for me to get back the normalcy I was craving. Also, George and I became a first-time Uncle and Aunt to a beautiful baby boy. Mason Matthew Wenstrup made his debut last night at 7:42pm weighing in at 6lbs and 14oz and measuring 19.5in. He is a blessing to our family.

It was such an amazing experience to be at the hospital right before Jami was about to push and to be among the first people to see Mason. I have been to see babies a day or so after they were born and even saw Aayla 3 hours after she was born but there was something about the energy and the excitement of being in the waiting room with family. I got to the hospital when it was only Matt, Jami and Dina (Jami’s mom) in the room. Jami was about 2-3 cm. dialated in the morning when she arrived at the hospital and after her dose of petosin at 2:00pm she quickly progressed to 9-10 cm. by 5:00pm. The nurse called our favorite gyno, Dr. Caligaris, and the rest of us called family letting them know to get to the hospital. Most of us were in the room before Dr. Cali got there and of course when he opened the door to see us all he just chuckled. I think after the month we have had he is done with the Wenstrup/Herron clan.

The waiting game started when we were pushed out of the room so Jami could start pushing but only 10 minutes passed when Matt exited the room. Don’t get excited….he had to go to the bathroom. I thought Toni Baur was going to KILL him. She pretty much followed him to the bathroom and made sure he hurried up to get back to the room with Jami. Of course Matt would pull that kind of stunt! The rest of us took over the Waiting Room and if you know my family you know that we aren’t the quiet type. Mom, Dad, Brian, George, Dina, Randy, Toni, Erin, Kendra and I all waiting together.

About an hour into waiting a man comes into the waiting room wanting to know if there was a phone book to order food from Isadores. I knew the name of the restaurant and looked up the number on my phone and gave it to him, telling him that my old company used to order food there and their pasta was delicious. He kept offering to buy our party food but of course we all declined. Such a nice gesture, right? About a half hour later he walks back into the room and hands me a pizza. Tells me to make myself useful and hold it! Then tells us to enjoy. Wow, isn’t it funny when stuff like that happens? Then he comes back and hands me a little box that has spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread and says, “you said you liked their pasta.” Again, WOW!

We were all enjoying the food when Mom just walks in and says, “6 pounds and 14 ounces.” Of course the rest of us are like “WHAT?” She is so non-chalant about the whole thing and after someone asks she says, “oh yea, Mason is born.” Haha! Then we all freak out! It was so emotional. The whole experience was emotional…seeing Matt right before we left him with Jami to start pushing made me ball my eyes out. He was going to be a dad and that got me all choked up but then seeing him actually hold Mason and bring Mason to be with Jami got me again. I’m so proud of my brother and how much he is really filling these shoes. And to look around at my mom and dad and now see them truly as “Grandma” and “Grandpa” was amazing, they were so proud! My dad had the video camera and there were tears in his eyes and mom was just cooing over Mason and loving on Jami. George was the proud uncle taking pictures from every angle of the handsome baby and his new family. It was awesome!

Mason and Mommy are both doing great. I was able to see him 3 times last night in the NICU transition area. He was in there because of the trauma from birth (not un-common) to keep an eye on his breathing which was raspy at first and because he really just got beat the hell up during birth. The last time I saw him last night was when Jami was wheeled down to see her baby boy, it was emotional. I knew how bad Jami wanted to hold him, hell I was dying to hold him and I’m just the aunt! She was a super mom the way she was asking the questions and taking in every detail about her son. The doctor was asking Jami questions, they seemed like basic background questions about the health history and the birth and stuff and then the doctor asked if anyone in the family had any chromosome abnormalities. I froze and I could see Jami also do the same. I can’t remember exactly what was said after that but I do remember choking up and thinking for a small second that what I had gone through was hereditary. It was a scary few seconds but it was easy to move on, calm down and love on Mason for a few more minutes before Jami was admitted to her new home for the next couple of days.

I know in my heart of hearts that Mason being born just a month after George and I got our world flipped is a blessing. Mason is going to be one loved and SPOILED (yes Jami, I said spoiled) little boy. The moment I laid eyes on him I fell in love. I’m so excited to be his only aunt and I know George is excited to be an uncle. Thank you Matt and Jami for letting us experience one of your most incredible moments in your lives. I’m so lucky to have such an open and loving family and I was reminded of this YET again last night.

Okay… now you have to check out the cutest little boy!