‘Blizzard Baby’ Arrives At Gifford During Storm
By Martha Slater

The birth of Mason William Griffith at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph last Wednesday, Feb. 14 was the cause of a good deal of excitement and worry—and not just for the usual reasons surrounding a birth.

Little Mason arrived during the height of the now-famous Valentine’s Day Blizzard of 2007, and it took the combined efforts of a lot of people—including the state police and a plow truck driver—to make sure he was born safely.

When Mason’s parents, Burleigh Griffith and Amber Therrien, who live in Barre, called their midwife Tonya Stevenson at Gifford about mid-day on Wednesday to let her know that Amber was in labor, the storm was in full swing, and Stevenson advised them to get on the road while they still could. After calling the state police to make sure I-89 was still open, they did just that.

Joining them for the long ride to Gifford was Amber’s grandmother, Linda Therrien, who had driven to Barre from her home in Jay, Maine the day before, in order to beat the storm. Mason’s grandparents Toni Deslaurier and Bruce Griffith of Camp Brook Road in Bethel, and William and Mary Therrien of Rochester, managed to make it to the hospital as well.

"The baby was a week overdue and when we heard the weather report, we were all joking that he'd be born during the big snowstorm," Deslaurier told The Herald. "Of course, that’s exactly what happened!"

During the afternoon and early evening, as Stevenson and nurses Kim Summers and Ronda Flaherty monitored Amber's labor, the baby’s heart rate kept dropping, signaling fetal stress, and Stevenson made the decision to have the baby delivered by Caesarian section. Anesthesiologist Dennis Henzig, who hadn’t been able to get home, was pressed into service, and an emergency call was put in to Dr. Ellamarie Russo DeMara.

With the snow piling up fast, the doctor got stuck in her driveway on Harlow Hill Rd. in Randolph while trying to get to the hospital. She called the Vermont State Police for help and they got in touch with Randolph road foreman Rob Runnals, who was (where else?) out plowing. Runnals arrived in his town plow truck and drove the doctor to the hospital in time to deliver Mason at 8:50 p.m.

Weighing in at a healthy 8 lb. 10 1/2 oz, and measuring 22 inches long from head to toe, Mason was welcomed by a lot of relieved and happy people. Although a lot of things about his birth were unusual, he did follow a family tradition by being born on February 14. His paternal great-grandfather and maternal great-great-great-grandfather were also born on Valentine's Day.

____________