Despite being due on Jan. 12, when 38-year old Brandy Newlan began having contractions on New Year’s Day, she suspected she could soon be delivering Ross County’s 2016 New Year’s Baby.
The evening of Jan. 1, Brandy and her partner, Josh Mitchell, both of Bourneville, arrived at Adena Regional Medical Center, but it didn’t seem as if their new addition was quite ready for the spotlight.
“They sent us home (Friday night),” said Brandy. Almost relieved, the couple wasn’t looking for any extra attention. Brandy admitting, “We knew we didn’t want to have the New Year’s baby!”
Already the mother of four children, ages 20, 12, 10 and 3, Brandy knew the evening of Jan. 2 when the contractions continued and intensified that she needed to get back to Adena. She and Josh got to Adena’s Women and Children’s Unit at around 11 p.m. Saturday with her labor in full force. When they arrived, they also quickly learned they would be the parents of the 2016 New Year’s baby.
In that moment, none of that really mattered to the couple – or the baby.
“I was already dilated to four (centimeters) when we got here,” Brandy said. “They gave me an epidural, and before I got turned around in the bed, he was on his way! The nurse (Stephanie Liming, RN) had to deliver him right there. They didn’t even have time to break the bed down (to delivery position).”
At 3:12 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, the family welcomed Nathaniel Mitchell. With a full head of blonde hair, Nathaniel weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. He joins his three sisters and one brother; and has the distinction of being 2016’s first baby born at Adena Regional Medical Center and in Ross County.
Submitted by Maria Smith, director, corporate communications, Adena Health System.
