CINCINNATI — Smiles, joy and beaming pride — we’re not talking about Cincinnati Bengals fans when the team advanced to the AFC Championship, but parents who delivered babies during the heart-stopping playoff games the last several weeks.
These infants are in a class of their own: those born during the playoffs have never seen a Bengals loss.
“I am going to razz him a little bit about sleeping through it,” new dad Jesse Johnson said.
Jesse and fiancé Samantha Horn welcomed their son, Mac, just before the Bengals AFC Wild Card game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“He literally came, I want to say it was around 3:30, I was like this is perfect, I’ll get to watch the game.” Johnson said. “My fiancé was recovering and I just got to hold him, watch the game and I had (the volume) real low. He was sleeping the whole time.”
Kelsea and Pedro Diaz also watched the Bengals historic playoff win against the Raiders before welcoming their son, Ezekiel. Ezekiel waited until after the fourth quarter to make his arrival.
“We were able to watch the whole game, (it) ended and I said, ‘OK, I need to push,’" Kelsea said. "Eight minutes after the game ended, he got here."
Weighing in at just 5 pounds, 15 ounces, sweet Emme Schunn was born just before fans learned who the Bengals would face in the AFC Divisional Round.
Sweet Emme was born to Good Morning Tri-State producer Caitlin Schunn and husband Zach.
And add baby Louie Keiner, born to Layla and Corey Keiner, to the list of little ones who snoozed through the victory.
“The baby was in the bassinet sleeping, so I guess Louie didn’t technically see the Bengals win,” Layla said. “Dad was cheering and he’s cheering in that whisper cheer, like ... ‘yeah, yeah’."
New parents Jonathon and Miranda Day weren't quite so lucky during the Bengals win over the Titans.
“The recovery room, and the room we were in, did not have (the game on),” Jonathon said.
But the support from his family helped him get through. Giovanni Zachary Lee Day was born during the second quarter of the Bengals-Titans game.
“It was intense because my brother-in-law kept texting me the scores and telling me what was going on,” Jonathon said.
New mom Amy Zembrodt, who delivered Jillian Stella on New Year’s Day, said she’s just happy to have someone cheering with her.
“Everybody else in my house could care less about the Bengals so it’s special,” Zembrodt said. “I’ve always gone to a game a year, and take my dad to the game, so now we’ll have somebody else to take with us."
So whether those are tears of joy from the stands or the hospital room, these parents have a lot to cheer for.
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