Joel. Is. Here.

Joel has finally arrived, and the Frese kid factory has officially closed shop and boarded up the windows. (Danny will soon make an appointment to set the building on fire.)

We thank God for many mercies during the pregnancy and birth. For those interested, here is a short version of the birth story:

• March 30th - false alarm and trip to the birth center in the evening. Laurie was only 2-3 centimeters dilated.
  
• March 31 - warm-up contractions all day
• April 1st, midnight - sporadic harder contractions
• 1:00 am - consistent hard contractions
• 2:00 - leave for birthing center
• 2:40 - Laurie is checked by the midwife; she's 8cm dilated (yesss!)
• 4:07 - Joel is delivered (Yes, on April Fools' Day)
  
• 11:30 - Head home with our fourth baby

Stats: Joel was 5lbs, 14oz (the same as Isaiah), and 20" long. In case you don't know what that means, he's tiny, and a bit on the long side. The pictures, even with other objects for scale, don't really convey how small he is.

Most of the pictures below are self-explanatory. Here's Laurie about 5 days beforehand:










"No, you are NOT going to rough-house with the baby."