Introducing...

Joseph Douglas Schwartz!

So Saturday (Oct. 1), Joe's due date, was coming and going. Julie decided to take as many walks as possible to help move things along. We walked all over the stores, around the mall, to the mailbox. By the end of the evening, Julie felt stronger contractions, but nothing unbearable. After an evening of playing Tetris, we called it a night at 10pm. We were in bed by 10:30. Little did we know, this was not going to be a night of rest. By 1am, Julie's contractions were getting stronger and more frequent. She rolled over and said, "It's time." We called JoAnne (Julie's mom) to come watch Wendy. We called the hospital to tell them we were on our way. They reminded us that normally people must wait two hours until the contractions became stronger. It's a good thing they let us in early. We drove up to the hospital by 2am (CONTRACTION! - "Oh no... Not in the parking lot!") We were admitted and Julie was already at 7 cm (10 cm is Baby-Time!). She begged for the epidural, but they made no promises. Moments after the nurse left the room, Julie's water broke. When the nurse came back, Julie again begged for an epidural, and was told it may take another 30 minutes. Suddenly, the parade of nurses and doctors entered the room. Julie asked, "And who are you?!". The nurse replied, "I'm here to take care of your baby when it arrives." That's when we realized, there would be no epidural. 15 minutes later, Julie started pushing as one of the nurses started coaching. After about three good pushes, Joseph was born at 3:13am. He weighed 8 pounds and was 20.5 inches long.

He is a perfectly healthy little boy. No signs of jaundice. All fingers and toes are present. He was nursing within a couple of hours. And, Julie and Joe were sent home about 36 hours later. Both are doing very well.

Here are a few pictures. We will put up more when we can.

Doug, Julie, Wendy, and Joe (Our family of four!)