Welcoming Alaska’s first babies of 2020

It’s a new year, baby!

See the smiles of Alaska’s first 2020 arrivals

Courtesy of Shirley Young with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage Alissa and Kier Wilson welcomed their newborn baby at 6:43 a.m. Jan. 1. Daxton William Wilson is their first child and he arrived fashionably late, welcoming in the new decade.

“He was due on the 30th, so he was two days late,” Alissa said.

She said it’s been crazy having a New Year’s baby, but that Daxton “has the easy birthday probably ever to remember.”

“His grandpa’s birthday is the 31st, so he’s almost sharing a birthday with his papa,” she said.

Amanda Bohman photo Fairbanks Memorial Hospital When Mary Franzen went to the hospital Oct. 26 due to increasing pain in her pelvis, she expected to be diagnosed with a hernia or with appendicitis. Franzen, who suffers from polycystic ovary syndrome, had made peace with the low probability that she would get pregnant. “We talked about maybe someday doing adoption if we could,” she said, motioning to her fiance, 28-year-old Gary Dixon.

Instead, the couple found out they were expecting a baby and what Franzen initially thought were side effects of polycystic ovary syndrome were actually the signs of being 32 weeks pregnant.

At 3:57 a.m. New Year’s Day, Cameron Joaquin Dixon was born. Baby Cameron came into the world after several hours of labor and an eventual cesarean section.

“We had to practically beg her to throw in the towel. She just kept pushing and pushing,” said Alice Dang, Dixon’s mother.

Compiled by Kyrie Long and Amanda Bohman

Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital in Bethel Kayce Riley Lydia Moses came into the world just 10 minutes before baby Cameron in Fairbanks. Kayce weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 19.5 inches in length.

The first baby of 2020 for the Bethel hospital, Kayce was born at 3:47 a.m. Jan. 1 to Larissa Evon and Nathaniel Moses

Courtesy of Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center

Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center Kodiak welcomed its first baby of the New Year at 3:03 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Francis James Heyl was born to Deanna and James Heyl, who came to Kodiak with the U.S. Coast Guard four years ago.

Their son weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and measured 21 inches long.

Courtesy of Jocelyn Wyman

The Wyman family welcomed their New Year’s baby later than all the other families in the Alaska Pulse’s list.

Bella Aria Wyman, the first baby born to the Norton Sound region in 2020, was born on Jan. 5 at 9:54 a.m., a week earlier than her due date. She joins her parents, John and Jocelyn Wyman, and her two sisters, Aurora and Quinn.

Courtesy of Bartlett Regional Hospital

Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau Ronarielle Alyiah Poloa-Maae was born at 3:45 a.m. on New Year’s Day, joining her mother, father and big brother RJ.

“I didn’t think I was going to give birth on the first, but I guess she wanted to come out early,” said her mother, Marcella Poloa.

Poloa said she and Ronnie Maae found out she was expecting baby Ronarielle when she was about three months pregnant.

Poloa said it was exciting, despite not expecting to give birth on New Year’s Day.

Top names in 2018 (2017 in parentheses)

Girls: 1. Olivia (Emma) 2. Amelia (Olivia) 3. Aurora and Charlotte (Aurora) 4. Emma (Isabella) 5. Sophia (Evelyn, Sophia)

Boys 1. Oliver (James) 2. Logan (Liam) 3. Liam (Wyatt) 4. Elijah, Michael (William) 5. Benjamin (Oliver)

A bundle of Alaska baby facts

So what’s trending in baby names in Alaska? Olivia and Oliver, according to the latest report from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Baby-related info is contained in the department’s hefty vital statistics report for 2018, which was released in October of 2019. Here are a few more nuggets about the world of babies in Alaska:

August was a busy time for birthing. That month in 2018 had the largest number of births, at 934.

Ages of moms and dads: The mean age of mothers was 28.6 years old in 2018, while the mean age of fathers was 31.3 years.

Births by region in 2018 Anchorage: 3,970 Gulf Coast: 954 Interior: 1,720 Mat-Su: 1,394 Northern: 497 Southeast: 733 Southwest: 818