Grandbaby #4 is Finally Here!

For the past two weeks, everyone in the family participated in a variety of activities to get Michelle to go into labor before school started. However, William decided to hang around until the Doctor had to induce him to come out.

School started for me on Monday with no sign of William’s arrival. Justin’s classes started on Tuesday, that is my long day of classes beginning at 11:00, and ending at 8 pm. Tuesday wasn't any one's choice day for Michelle to be induced, but the rest of the week was full.

I went to school that morning with my phone on low-ring and checked it between classes. When it finally rang, it was just minutes before my last class started. Justin calmly asked, “What are you doing?” I let him know that I was on my way to my last class. He countered with, “Michelle is 9.5 cm dilated, pick up your syllabus and get here.” If you know me, I hate to miss my classes but I did not want to miss this birth. Before I hung up with Justin, I told him to pass on a message to William, “he may have taken his time getting here, but now he needed to wait for me to get there.” I quickly stopped by my class, introduced myself to the professor, and filled her in on the situation. The class cheered at the news and she waved me out.

I arrived in the delivery room just as Michelle started pushing. Thirty minutes later, William James Russell made his appearance at 5:54pm. He is a big healthy baby at 9lbs, 6.5 oz and 21.5” long. Everything about him matches his daddy’s stats, except for the color of his hair, which is much darker than Justin’s is.

Justin called a little while ago and said they were all home. For those of you who aren’t able to drop by to visit, here is a picture I took of William when he was only about 15 minutes old.

William James Russell