Tatum Jeannette Fitzmaurice Born: Sunday August 23, 1998, 1:55 a.m. Parents: Brian & Julie Fitzmaurice Mother's maiden name: Loitz Grandparents: Tom & Joann Loitz, Sandy Loitz, Jeanne Herbert, Richard Fitz Maurice Great-grandparents: Don & Emily Hager Birth Place: Valley Care Center, Pleasanton, California Nicknames: Tater,Tater tot,TJ Tatum was named after Tatum O'Neal. Tatum's parents fell in love with the name after viewing the movie "Paper Moon." Tatum's middle name is grandma Herbert's middle name. Send your comments to the happy parents via e-mail by clicking on the underlined addresses: (Brian) [email protected] or (Julie) [email protected]
	This picture was taken about five minutes after Tatum was born.
	Grandpa Tom told me I will be seeing a lot of this lip in the future.
	The happy Mommy!
	The proud Daddy!
	Julie, Tatum, and Brian. We love our little girl!
	The Queen. The Palace. And ... The Princess.
	With love and thanks to our friend Cary Litchford "The Web Wizard."
Birth story starts August 22, 1998, Saturday morning. Julie woke up around 7 a.m. with very mild contractions. She wasn't sure if they were Braxton-Hicks until around 10 a.m. when the cramps that accompany real contractions began to show strength. Julie and Brian were at Vic's All-Star having breakfast and decided to begin monitoring the contractions. They tracked the duration of the contraction and the time lapse between them. After food shopping and stopping over Tom and Joann's, they went home. The rest of the day was spent just putting around the house and monitoring the contractions. Julie consulted her books for advice and information. At 9:00 p.m., the decision was made to call the doctor. The doctor advised them to proceed to the hospital. At that time, the contractions were some what regular, between five to six minutes apart and between 50 and 120 seconds in duration. At 9:30 p.m. Julie and Brian arrived at the hospital. On the short one mile drive, Julie had three very strong contractions, one which she said she felt something snap. They had pre-registered so within five minutes they were in the birthing room #5 (room 2901), at the Valley Care Medical Center in Pleasanton. Julie was examined by the attending nurse and was told she was three centimeters dilated. They ran a test and confirmed, that "snap" Julie felt was her water breaking. Julie was going to have a baby that night!  The examination also revealed that the baby's head was way down, blocking the water from exiting and that she was in "back labor." The contractions almost immediately began to intensify in strength and shorter in separation between them. Julie was now having one minute contractions, two minutes apart. Within one hour, another examination showed that Julie was now five centimeters dilated. There was discussion of Narcotic medication and the use of an epidural. Julie had now gone through quite a few positions and countless painful contractions. The contractions were now coming without any break in between. She was in transition. Julie moved to the Jacuzzi. Julie fought hard to work through the contractions. She fought hard to fight the urge to push which was now becoming strong. After another hour and a half, the examination showed she was now at eight centimeters. Julie decided to not to use the epidural. She went back to the bed. The nurses prepared for delivery and in a very long hour she was ten centimeters. Julie was in severe pain. The doctor was called. Julie finally got the okay to push. She pushed hard. Forty minutes after the doctor arrived, aided with a suction device, Tatum was born on Sunday August 23, 1998 at 1:55 a.m.

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