Welcome, Charlie!

First, take a look at the three photos in my last post on March 4, the ones from our friends' 3-d ultrasound. Then look closely at the photo to the left. It's him! Our friends Jeff and Alissa welcomed little Charlie Luke Hutsler on Friday, March 9, 2007 at 4:36 a.m. He came a wee bit early, about three weeks, actually, but he's healthy and, at 5 pounds, 13 ounces, I'm not so sure Alissa would have wanted him to wait another three weeks. Haven't you seen pictures of those two 13-pound sumo babies that have been born this winter--one from Mexico and the other from Japan!? Alissa explains that her water broke at 9:30 p.m. Thursday night. I'm not sure what she was trying to prove, but she arched her back, writhing in pain until 4:00 a.m., when Jeff somehow wisely convinced her they needed to go to the hospital (Jeff--any tips, brother?). Alissa claims her only memory of the trip is telling Jeff to "run the red light...run the red light!" but they arrived at hospital at 4:20. Upon their arrival, nurses told Alissa the baby's head was crowning, hooked her to a monitor by 4:31, and he came out at 4:36. Need I say that the story succeeds in drumming up the "Holy Crap!" response in me? What ever happened to the hospital being the last stop in advent? The place to wait, impatiently, for the arrival of the impending baby? Sheesh. They might not have even had a chance to get the kid's seat in the car to take him home on such short notice! (And, for those readers who gave birth in the '70s or before, they won't even let you take him out of the hospital without the seat installed properly...none of this "I held you in my lap as we left the hospital" stuff. Ralph Nader's probably responsible for that, too!) Seriously, many happy congratulations to Jeff and Alissa, and welcome to the world, Charlie! We're glad you're here, and we'll be looking forward to meeting you soon!