2014: 3,348
2013: 2,486
2012: 2,246
When the new year was just shy of being two hours old, a Vancouver couple welcomed their newborn baby girl. Aubrey Maya Schneider, born at 1:43 a.m. to first-time parents Kyle Schneider and Cassie Carter, is the first local baby born in 2015.
“We didn’t name her till she was born,” said Schneider. They had a list of names in mind, and Aubrey Maya was the right fit.
“The whole world celebrates your birthday,” said Wayne Carter, the child’s grandfather.
The pink bundle with a tuft of hair, dark brown like her mother’s, looked around the room. She opened her mouth, stuck out her tongue, and eyed her family members in the hospital room at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.
“She’s easy so far,” Schneider, 26, said. His older brother and sister-in-law, who brought their 2-year-old son to meet the newborn, looked at each other and chuckled.
Aubrey was due on Jan. 27, but came into the world on the new year in good health.
“Seven pounds, 6 ounces. That’s perfect,” Wayne Carter said.
Cassie Carter said she started having contractions on Tuesday and went to the hospital, but the staff sent her home. The family waited and returned to the hospital around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when the contractions started picking up again. Hours later, she ushered in a new life.
“It was a new experience,” said Schneider, who watched the birth and cut the umbilical cord.
“We slept for four hours last night,” Cassandra Carter, 23, said.
This coming year the couple plan to get married and watch their girl grow. They’re renting a house and have Aubrey’s room all set up.
While the young couple haven’t gotten any parental advice so far, they’ve gotten plenty of supplies and clothes for their tyke. And more gifts are waiting under the Christmas tree at home. Relatives are coming in from northern Washington to meet the baby girl.
Schneider’s sister-in-law, Jessie Schneider, is expecting a baby boy in a couple of weeks. The 27-year-old gave birth to 2-year-old Peyton at Legacy Salmon Creek.
“They’re going to be so close,” she said.
More babies
Nurses at Legacy Salmon Creek were kept busy New Year’s Day. By late morning, six babies had been born, and seven more were on the way, said charge nurse Joy Pieper. The second baby girl came just an hour after Aubrey.
A contract between the hospital and Kaiser Permanente has resulted in a recent bevy of babies. Kaiser switched from using PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center as its health plan hospital in Clark County to Legacy Salmon Creek in October 2013.
Since 2012, there’s been a 49 percent increase in births at Legacy Salmon Creek, with 3,348 babies born last year. It would have been 3,349 babies for 2014, but Aubrey Schneider decided to wait until after the festive stroke of midnight.
