Families across the region are welcoming the first babies of the new year.
The first baby of 2024 is Elias Kenneth Tripp who was born at the Owen Sound Regional Hospital and is the first of the new year for Brightshores Health System.
Elias was born on Jan. 1 at 3:39 a.m. to parents Kylee MacDonald and her partner Bryce Tripp and weighs 8.5 pounds. This is the Port Elgin couple’s first child.
“It was an incredible experience for what it was in Owen Sound. It was a 10 out of 10 experience for what having a baby could be,” says MacDonald. “It’s an incredible feeling, he is so calm and quiet and he is so relaxed and is easy going and it is absolutely amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better first baby.”
Elias Tripp with parents Kylee MacDonald and her partner Bryce Tripp (Photo provided by Kylee MacDonald)
The Hanover and District Hospital also welcomed the first baby of the new year at their site.
While the parents were unavailable, Executive Assistant to the President and CEO of the hospital Victoria Cumming says Lillian was born to Jon and Elsie Frey on Jan. 1 at 10:49 p.m. She weighs 8.6 pounds.
Cumming says Lillian is the couple’s second child, a new sister to their other child Connor.
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre also welcomed River Joseph Alexander Mattiuz on Jan. 2 at 8:35 a.m. to new parents Jordan Mattiuz and his fiance Kennedy Williams at the site in Walkerton.
River Joseph Alexander Mattiuz with parents Jordan Mattiuz and his fiance Kennedy Williams (Photo provided by Jordan Mattiuz)
River was born weighing 7.14 pounds.
“We are excited, we are over the moon,” says Mattiuz. “It was amazing, it was something I never experienced before. The feeling, the anticipation, it was awesome.”