Our journey to the frozen tundra

Mason's Birth Story

We flew to Minnesota on January 22nd. Our birth mother had been having contractions and was dilated, so we left work, hurried onto a plane, and arrived as fast as we could.

And then.....

We waited.

For two weeks.

Mason was very stubborn. He did not want to come out into the cold to meet his family. So while our poor birth mom stayed at home tired, exhausted, and very very pregnant, we got really good at wasting time. Remember that this is all during the polar vortex, so when we arrived in Minnesota, the temperature was -15. So we spent a lot of time indoors.

We went to the Mall of America...

We went bowling....

I even bowled a 155!! And I beat Trent! 

We played A LOT of ping pong...

We went on a lot of dinner dates...

And we went to Barnes and Noble almost every day. We read a lot of books and drank a lot of coffee!! 

And then finally, on Super Bowl Sunday, our birth mom was 39 weeks and 6 days and just couldn't take it anymore. After the game was over, we picked her up and took her to the hospital. She was admitted overnight, but her contractions weren't very close together, so we waited at the hospital until morning, unsure if the doctor would send her back home or not. I stayed in the hospital room with her and Trent slept on a makeshift couch in the guest lounge. It was a long night and none of us got much sleep. 

Around 3 am, her contractions started getting closer and closer together. 

At 7 am, the doctor induced her.

At 9 am, the birth mother announced to us that she would have the baby by noon. We waited in the hospital room with her, telling stories and trying to distract her from the pain of the contractions. At 11:45 am, the nurse called the doctor in, he arrived at 11:50 am, and Mason was born at 11:54 am. The entire birthing process was over by exactly noon. Trent and I got to be there the entire time, and as soon as the baby was born, the doctor handed him right to me. 

I did my best not to drop the slippery little guy, and the nurse helped me hold him in my gown so we could have skin to skin contact. 

We had narrowed his name down to Mason, Quinton or Alexander. After we saw him, Mason just seemed to fit him the best. His full name is Mason Quinton Russell, he was 6 lb 12 oz, 21 inches long. 

Trent fed him his first bottle.

The nursing staff was wonderful. They gave us our own hospital room and Mason stayed with us the entire time. Our birth mom was in her own room in another hallway and we would go back and forth to visit each other. She was so emotionally and physically strong the entire time. She was our biggest advocate in the hospital, telling all of the nurses and social workers that she wanted Trent and I to have the best experience possible. She was flexible and easy to work with during all of the difficult legal decisions and signed the stack of paperwork while cracking jokes and harassing the lawyer. We feel so blessed to have found such a fantastic birth mother to go through this with.  

Last day at the hospital...

Packed up and ready to go. 

On February 4th, the papers were signed and Mason was officially adopted into our family. We had to wait to come home until both the state of Minnesota and Utah approved our paperwork. Three days after he was born, the paperwork was all approved and we got on a plane to Seattle! We were so happy to leave Minnesota. It's way too cold there.

We spent the night in Seattle and had a little photoshoot with our friend Kimmy. She takes beautiful pictures and got some great shots, even though he didn't feel like cooperating. 

And finally, one of my favorite pictures of him, even though he was not a happy baby!!

We made it home five days after Mason was born. He was perfect on both flights, he didn't make a sound the entire time. We got a lot of attention in the airport, lots of people gushing over him and us when they learned that we just adopted him. 

Being so good on his first flight! 

We are so happy to be home with our little boy. We are so thankful to our family and friends for being so kind and supportive of us during this incredibly emotional, time consuming and draining process. It's all worth it in the end, and we will make sure to keep lots of pictures coming so everyone can enjoy him!