10,000th delivery at Legacy Salmon Creek

Bailey and Benjamin Haag’s arrival Tuesday afternoon was celebrated not only by the twins’ parents but the entire staff of Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.

The newborns are their parents’ first children and were the 10,000th delivery at the medical center’s family birth center since it opened in August 2005.

Here’s some trivia about deliveries at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center’s family birth center.

o Babies born each year: average of 2,000.

o Sets of triplets born: eight.

o Sets of twins born: 204.

o Largest baby: a girl, 11 pounds, 14 ounces.

o Smallest baby: a boy (now 4 years old), 1 pound, 7 ounces.

o Busiest delivery day of the week: Friday.

o Most deliveries in one day: 13 on Dec. 21, 2010.

o Gender of babies born: 52 percent boys, 48 percent girls.

o Number of water deliveries: 380.

Courtney and Tim Haag of Vancouver weren’t the only parents expecting twins Tuesday. Four other women pregnant with twins were in various stages of labor throughout the day. One set of twins was born in the morning, and the Haag babies arrived in the afternoon — just in time to take the title of 10,000th delivery.

“It’s awesome,” Tim said. “It’s special.”

In 5½ years, the family birth center has gone from opening its doors to becoming the busiest center in the Legacy Health system. About 2,000 babies are born at the Salmon Creek center each year.

The Haag twins were delivered by Cesarean section at 37 weeks, about three weeks early, which is common with twins. Bailey was born at 12:32 p.m.; Benjamin arrived one minute later.

Bailey, who weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce at birth, was born with fluid in her lungs and stopped breathing after the delivery. She’ll spend a couple days in the neonatal intensive care unit, but doctors don’t expect any long-term effects from the scare.

The delivery of Benjamin, who weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces at birth, went without a hitch.

For Tim and Courtney, the entire pregnancy has been full of surprises.

The couple married 2½ years ago. They tried for a year to get pregnant before turning to fertility medications.

When Courtney went to the Fred Meyer store in Orchards to pick up the prescription, she was advised to take a pregnancy test before beginning the medication to be sure she wasn’t already pregnant. She took the test in the store bathroom and was shocked to find she was pregnant.

“She just walked up to the first clerk and said, ‘Is that pregnant?’” Tim said of his wife.

The couple learned they would be having twins six weeks into the pregnancy. Tim said they were “shocked and overwhelmed but thrilled to death.”

“This is just a blessing,” said Courtney, adding that the couple had hoped for a boy and a girl.

Tim, 37, and Courtney, 29, are both only children. So Benjamin and Bailey are the first — of what the grandparents hope to be several — grandchildren in the family.

“We’re starting with two, and we’ll see,” Tim said.

As Courtney held Benjamin, who was wrapped up snugly in blankets, the new dad watched as Benjamin sucked on his bottom lip, scrunched up his face and tried to open his eyes.

“I’ll have him out fishing soon enough,” Tim said as he stroked the baby’s head.

When the family heads home in a couple days, they’ll leave with a gift basket from the hospital celebrating the 10,000th delivery. The basket of goodies includes gift certificates to Burgerville, Kazoodles toy store and Kim Blau Photography.

Fred Meyer honored the hospital’s milestone with a gift of $3,500 to cover the cost of infant-safety DVDs given to each newborn’s family. The gift will cover the costs of the DVDs for one year.

Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.