Mason Ryan Sandstrom

Here's baby Mason Ryan Sandstrom.

I think he looks so much like Sadie. Of course a much manlier version. I think he has a Low nose, Karen's lips (whatever side that came from), and the rest is very Sandstrom to me. (I actually think overall he looks a lot like Laura.) What do you guys think?


Karen and her babies. (Sadie is actually trying to smile in this picture. I think I just caught her in the middle of trying to say "cheese")


The happy new parents.


Like Father like Son.


This is while Mason was warming up under the heat lamp and he was quite content to sit there and hold on to my finger. We stayed in this position for about 30 minutes.


Here's Mason about 30 seconds into life. He was born at 5:05pm Feb. 12, 2011. He weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces. He was 21 inches, 10 toes, 10 fingers, and very healthy.


Saying hi to mom for the first time


Already comfortable in mom's arms 2 minutes into life.


Speaking of Mama, Karen is doing great. We are sure happy that he is here! He was due on February 21 but it was a pleasant surprise to have him come to us almost a week and a half early.


Here's a good profile shot.

Well, if you can't tell, Karen is usually the one that does the blog posts. I would take the time to try to figure out a better way to arrange the pictures to make it more story-like, but I haven't slept in 48 hours and so I think the random array of very cute pictures will do for tonight.

I will say though that the circumstances of this delivery was amazingly similar to when Sadie was born. When Karen was pregnant with Sadie, we went to the doctor's office and he said that there was no way that Karen would go into labor for a week. So, the doctor went on a vacation for a few days. Later that night, however, Karen starting having contractions. Karen called the doctor and the doctor said that there there was nothing to be concerned about and that Karen should just take a bath. So Karen took a bath and the contractions actually got worse. So, we decided to go into the hospital just to see what they would say. All of the nurses said that she looked fine and that she probably wasn't going into labor. But, just to be sure, they checked her and amazingly found out that in fact she was going into labor and admitted her. But as I mentioned, her doctor had just gone out of town. Then within 6 hours of being admitted, Sadie was delivered by the on-call doctor.

Well, the story could not be more identical today. Karen got checked yesterday and the doctor said she was fine and that she wouldn't go into labor for a week or more, so the doctor went on vacation. Then within a few hours Karen was having contractions. Again, Karen called the hospital and they told her not to worry but like last time the bath didn't help and things continued to progress and so we decided to go to the hospital to see what they would say. Literally every nurse that we spoke to on the way into the hospital reassured Karen that everything was fine and she didn't look like she was going into labor. However, they decided to check her and go figure she had progressed significantly in only a few short hours. So they admitted her and within 6 hours, the on-call doctor delivered the baby. The best part is that next to both hospitals, the one in Omaha and the one in Payson, Utah, there is a tiny, hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant named Fernandos. No relation to each other and because a guy named Fernando simply runs each one independently, they are not connected in any way. That coincidence was the icing on the cake. Oh ya, and they both have amazing Horchata.

I realize that that was the long version and I know that you are all probably thinking that it is ironic that I just gave the long version after saying that I needed to do this post quickly because I was tired. Oh well, the amazing coincidences of the two deliveries probably outweigh the irony of this post.

Everyone is doing great and we are really excited to have baby Mason finally here with us. We'll post more pictures soon.

Posted by Ryan, taken from the Swendsen Family blog