Family in orbit over county's first baby of '07
BY SUSAN BROWN
sbrown@nwitimes.com
219.836.3780 | Tuesday, January 02, 2007
MERRILLVILLE | Arriving at 2:23 a.m. at the Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus, Lake County's first baby of the year is dark-haired, dark-eyed Comer Cosmor Watkins V, son of Comer Cosmor Watkins IV and Stephanie Michael Watkins.
Hobart natives, the couple recently bought a home in Portage, close to where Watkins IV works in Burns Harbor.
"I'll be a hands-on dad," said the ecstatic young father, 24.
And Stephanie Watkins, 19, said she'll be a stay-at-home mom for a while.
The latest Watkins baby arrived in perfect condition after 14 hours of labor, his mother said.
"It's very emotional," she said of the wonder of her first look at her newborn.
The first-time parents were joined at the birth by first-time grandmother, Lucy Watkins.
"We helped deliver him together," Lucy Watkins said of assisting her son with the birth.
Weighing in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces and measuring 19 inches, the baby carries on a number of traditions.
He is not only the fifth child in his family to carry the same name, but the third to be born to a 19-year-old mother and the second to be delivered by Merrillville obstetrician Prinn Stang.
The same length as his father at his birth, the baby sports his dad's hairline and lazy left eye, said his over-the-moon grandmother.
The object of all the excitement, though, took it all in stride, tightly swaddled and resting serenely in his mother's arms.
"These two are so happy with each other, and it shows in the baby," his grandmother said. "They're a young couple, but they're going to be good parents."
The baby's celebrity as the county's first baby of the year will yield the young family a gift basket from Methodist, filled to the brim with holiday flowers, stuffed animals, chocolates, baby outfits and special gift sets for the new mom.
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