The parents of Owen Jeffrey Dean Wight have already pegged a streak of rowdiness in their son who, in an riled exit, wrapped his umbilical cord around his neck.
The 6-pound, 13.2-ounce newborn, the first baby born at Central Peninsula Hospital in 2016, was delivered at 1:40 p.m. Sunday. The labor went on for 12 hours, but his mother Danyelle Garrett, a 27-year-old mother of five, said it was an easy birth.
“It was a little nerve-wracking, but he recovered just fine,” said Daniel Wight, Owen’s dad.
The family was ready for Owen to arrive.
Garrett said she spent Saturday at Jumpin’ Junction on Kalifornsky Beach Road trying to get her water to break. After a few hours she was having contractions and headed to the Central Peninsula Hospital once Wight was home from work. Labor began just after 1 a.m. Sunday morning.
Wight said during the delivery, the cord prevented amniotic fluid from leaving the baby’s lungs as he left the womb, and the doctors had to do a little extra work to make sure Owen began breathing properly.
Once that process was complete, the family was informed of the delivery’s special significance.
“It was pretty exciting for me, really,” Garrett said. “I didn’t really expect it because his delivery date was Jan. 19, and I thought there would be at least three other babies born, but we do live in kind of a small community.”
Wight also noted his son’s date of birth is the day Alaska joined the Union 57 years ago.
The parents said Owen is also a momentous addition to their large family.
“When you don’t try to have a baby, you tend to have them,” Garrett said with a laugh.
She explained that the couple started out as co-workers at Frontier Community Services, quickly became best friends, and were most recently married in 2014. They spent some time living in Washington until moving back in the spring of 2015. By that time, Wight and Garrett knew they wanted another baby, but due to the chaos of the transition, they took a hiatus from trying until things calmed down. Within a month, Owen’s pregnancy was confirmed.
His gender was less of a surprise by choice. Garrett said she had been hopeful for a little girl. She considered waiting until the birth, or a party to reveal the gender, but didn’t want to seem any less ecstatic if it was a boy.
“It was 29 weeks before we found out,” Garrett said. Then, the name came naturally.
It was something the entire household agreed on, Garrett said. Owen’s three older brothers who live at the home were excited about it and so it stuck. Given names always have a little meaning behind them in her family, she said.
Jordan, 2, her other son whom Daniel fathered is named after the biblical story of Joshua, who led the Israelites across the Jordan River to the Promised Land. She said the message signified a similarly transformative transition Garrett was making in her life at the time.
“Out with the evil, and falsities and in with the good and the truth,” Garrett said.
Garrett and Wight already plan to do things a little differently with Owen, although Garrett said she believes that is essential for good parenting.
Wight said he wants to raise his new son in the area, partially because he knows his older brother Jordan was moved from place to place.
Garrett said she likes to take classes and better cater to the needs of each of her children.
“My mom gave me the greatest advice a few years back: ‘You have to learn to pick your battles,’” Garrett said.
She said the battles are different with an infant than with a toddler than with a teenager, an age she hasn’t had to develop a strategy for yet. But she is confident she will adapt to that too.
“Once you kind of get it, it kind of clicks,” Garrett said. “…That is kind of my motto, that it is all about learning and you’ve got to learn each kid individually first … I have some amazing children.”
Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulaclarion.com.
