(AP) — Not even labor contractions could keep a Wisconsin woman from driving to meet her husband as the guardsman returned home from Iraq.

Johana Ortiz had gone into labor hours before her husband's plane landed at Camp Douglas, but she defied her doctors orders and made the nearly three-hour trip from Milwaukee.

She says she really wanted her husband to be there for the birth because he was in Iraq during her pregnancy.

When the plane with about 300 soldiers landed last week, commanders directed U.S. Army Spc. Melvin Ortiz to leave the aircraft first. He sprinted to the hangar, hugged his wife and they hopped into an SUV.

They then rushed to a suburban Milwaukee hospital, where a healthy 7 pound, 8 ounce boy named Eduardo was born.

President and CEO of Nassau University Medical Center Thomas Stokes explains the problems caused by the aging infrastructure within the hospital. Newsday Associate Editor Joye Brown reports.  Credit: Newsday/Kendall Rodriguez

Inside look at NUMC's aging infrastructure President and CEO of Nassau University Medical Center Thomas Stokes explains the problems caused by the aging infrastructure within the hospital. Newsday Associate Editor Joye Brown reports.

President and CEO of Nassau University Medical Center Thomas Stokes explains the problems caused by the aging infrastructure within the hospital. Newsday Associate Editor Joye Brown reports.  Credit: Newsday/Kendall Rodriguez

Inside look at NUMC's aging infrastructure President and CEO of Nassau University Medical Center Thomas Stokes explains the problems caused by the aging infrastructure within the hospital. Newsday Associate Editor Joye Brown reports.

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