Mason is Ashley’s second baby, and she calls her experience at Watertown Regional Medical Center: “amazing - - probably partly because, with the second baby, I knew what to expect.”

But the birth itself was anything but easy or expected. Ashley arrived in full labor at 6:30 a.m. and didn’t have Mason for another 12 hours… and then she needed an emergency C-section.

“You’re nervous about the C-section, you know,” Ashley says. “But the team that took me in talked to me and did everything they could to make me feel calm and relaxed.”

After her son arrived, Ashley says, the care she received continued to be terrific. Her questions were all answered, and anything she needed was provided. “They were right there,” she remembers. “It was really the people who made the difference.”

Especially touching to Ashley is the fact that the nurse who had been with her throughout her day of labor returned the next day – her day off – just to meet the new baby.

“Having a baby is already an enjoyable experience,” says Ashley. “But they made it even better.”