Presenting little Zoe Mae Costello...

 The wait is over, and the wee babe child is here!  Cara and I headed into the hospital on Friday afternoon -- actually, we walked there.  Cara was keen to keep things moving, and the best way to help move the baby on down is to walk... So, with two miles and a great park ahead of us, I played the role of a sherpa and carried all the requisite stuff while Cara necessarily carried the baby, and off we went.   The weather was beautiful, and all the walking really helped the contractions build some steam.

We'll spare you all the details but, to borrow a phrase, nobody said it'd be easy.  Cara was an absolute champ, the Midwives at Magee were fabulous, and we had several wonderful doctors and nurses along the way.  (We labored through three midwife shifts, and had one great nurse at the end who spent at least 11 hours of her 12hr shift at our side!) We did, of course, encounter a few of the obligatory medical types who had probably skipped one too many bedside-manner classes, but on the whole, the experience was a good one.  We've long doted on Pittsburgh since moving here, and the fact that we were able to walk down the street to deliver at a world-class women's hospital is nothing short of amazing.  As is little miss Zoe:

Enjoy these few photos as a primer...  They were taken a few hours after Zoe was born, as she was splayed out enjoying the warmer in our room.  We'll post more photos in the coming days and weeks - including some featuring the proud parents.  Enjoy.