Baby makes debut in parking lot Published June 3, 2008 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. -- Joel Glanz wasn't going to miss the birth of his second child but he didn't expect to be so intimately involved. Glanz, a Navy construction-electrician assigned to the Gulfport Naval Construction Battalion Center, helped deliver daughter Josephine early May 21 in the D'Iberville WalMart parking lot. As wife Tracy explained, "I woke up about 3:30 a.m. and almost immediately my water broke and strong contractions started. I called for Joel, we gathered our son (19-month-old Kody) and bags and got into the car. "We only made it around the corner when I told Joel I really had to push. We were talking to Keesler Medical Center (family birthing center) and the woman on the phone told us we needed to stop and call an ambulance. We pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot and Joel called 911 for an ambulance. He turned on the headlights to make it easier for them to find us." The 911 operator told Joel to clean his hands and began talking him through the birthing process. "Joel used hand sanitizer to clean his hands," Tracy said. He told me to get ready and, after one or two hard pushes, she came out. Joel caught her just as the paramedics arrived and knocked on the window. He cut the cord in the car. Josephine and I were placed in the ambulance and taken to Keesler Medical Center with Joel following in the car." The family birthing center staff provided routine postpartum care and ensured there were no complications. Josephine weighed 8 pounds and was 20 inches long. Tracy and Josephine went home the following day. "It was quite an experience," Joel said. "I wasn't able to be there for Kody's birth -- I was away at training. The first I learned of his birth was through a message on my cell phone. I didn't have it with me because I was in chemical gear. I wasn't able to be with Kody until he was a month old so this was awesome for me."