Scott Swanson
Sweet Home’s first baby of the new year made a big entrance into the world – at 10 pounds, 11 1/2 ounces.
Kevin Dayton Ross was born at 6:26 p.m. on Jan. 1 at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, measuring 22 1/2 inches.
The proud parents are Etta Prewitt, 27, and Luke Ross, 25.
“I knew he was going to be big,” Prewitt said, noting that ultrasounds indicated the baby was likely to have broad shoulders. He does, with a chest and head measuring 14 inches at birth.
Prewitt, who grew up in Newport, has two other boys, Noah, 6, and Nick, 2, so having a baby wasn’t a new experience.
But she said Kevin, who was due Jan. 4, was induced early because doctors were concerned about his size.
“He was putting quite a strain on me,” she said. “So we kind of scheduled inducement. The only concern was how his shoulders might be broad.”
She said the birth itself turned out to be not too difficult.
“I guess I made this one look easy,” she said. “I didn’t holler or anything.”
The new dad said he’s pretty excited with the baby, his first.
“I’m pretty happy,” said Ross, who attended Sweet Home High School before earning his GED. He said he’s been looking for work. The couple are engaged and are hoping for an August wedding.
“I was getting pretty antsy toward the end of her pregnancy,” he said.
Ross said because they have older children “I’ve got the 2 and 6 age groups down pretty good” but he’s still learning about newborns.
Prewitt said Kevin’s first few days suggest that he has a “really tolerant” personality.
“Doesn’t make much fuss except when he’s hungry,” she said. “Other than that, he doesn’t get too loud.”
She said the baby born before Kevin was half his size.
“I saw them side by side in the nursery,” Prewitt said. “There was a big difference.”
The delivery physician, Dr. Kimberly James, nicknamed Kevin “The Tank,” she said.
“He might not have been the first baby of year, but he was the biggest baby of year,” Prewitt said.