CANDACE WU
news@pqbnews.com
It took a few days, but Parksville Qualicum Beach finally welcomed the first baby of 2014.
Jack Schultz came into the world on Jan. 3 at 11.56 p.m. – all nine pounds, eight ounces of him.
"He's perfectly healthy," said the newborn's mother Janice, beaming with the kind of natural glow reserved only for women who have just birthed a child.
Jack was the second child for the Schultz's, who rushed to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital from Parksville late Friday night where their "absolutely amazing" midwife, Julia Cianci was already waiting.
"I was in labour for two hours and pushed for six minutes," said Janice, who endured a completely natural birth void of any pain medication. "We left the hospital by 11 a.m. the next morning."
Jack was due on Jan. 1, arrived three days late just shy of midnight and still won the title of New Years baby. When asked how she felt about her new baby brother, four-year-old Leah looked around thoughtfully and withdrew into a sudden shyness, however, her adorning curiosity is unmistakable as she, like everybody else, can't keep her eyes off Jack.