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By Andrea Nagel
The new Kootenai Health Family Birth Center
opened its doors to the
public on March 15. Amidst the last minute shuffling of paperwork, pumps
and patients to the new space, Tessa DeMoy of Hayden checked in to have
her first baby.
“I didn’t think I’d get to deliver in the new center because my due date
was March 9,” she said. “We got to the hospital around 9:30 in the morn-
ing and were admitted to the old unit for about an hour-and-a-half and
then walked to our new room around 11. I really enjoyed the jetted tub in
my labor room.”
Not too long after moving to their new room, another family checked
in and the race to be the first to deliver in the new Family Birth Center
ensued.
“The nurses were really cute,” Tessa said. “We kept checking in on each
other to see who would deliver first.”
Finally, at 9:56 p.m. Tessa and her husband, Marshall Allers, got to meet
their little girl, Danica. Weighing in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 21.5
inches long, Tessa immediately saw the resemblance to her 6-foot-5-inches
tall husband.
“She has his long legs,” she said. “I didn’t expect her to be so long.”
Nurse midwife Ronda Williamson was on call that day. She delivered
both the last baby in the old unit as well as Danica, the first baby in the
new unit.
“This particular birth was so great, it was all natural and she worked
really hard. I thought it was a nice initiation for the unit to have a natural
birth and happy family to start out,” she said. “The delivering experience
is different in the new unit. The rooms are bigger with more space for
patients to walk around and labor just as they want to. My favorite thing
about the new unit is the beautiful natural light in the rooms. It feels very
calm and inviting.”
ADay of Firsts
T H E N E W K O O T E N A I H E A LT H FA M I LY
B I R T H C E N T E R W E L C O M E D I T S F I R S T B A B Y
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