Kootenai Health welcomes first baby of 2019
LOREN BENOIT/Press Katlynn Rene’e Taylor, 19, holds her newborn baby, Jeriah James Taylor. Jeriah was the first baby born in 2018 at Kootenai Health.
Katlynn Rene’e Taylor, 19, holds her newborn baby, Jeriah James Taylor at Kootenai Health. Jeriah was Born at 9:02 a.m. New Years Day and weighed in at 7 lbs., 13 oz, and measured 20.5 in. long. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — Born at 9:02 a.m. Tuesday, Jeriah James Taylor was Kootenai Health’s first baby of the new year. The baby boy is the firstborn child of Hayden resident Katlynn Rene’e Taylor, 19.
Jeriah weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and measured 20.5 inches long. Jeriah’s pregnancy went smoothly, Taylor said. “He was healthy the whole time.”
Taylor’s water broke at 4 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, but labor didn’t begin in earnest until around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, she said. An epidural and the assistance of obstetrician Dr. John Kim plus registered nurses Elizabeth Jarman and Amy House helped her through labor and delivery, Taylor said. She only had to push for an hour, she said.
Toward the end, she just wanted to get it over with so she could take a nap, Taylor said.
“Being a mom is the best and the scariest thing ever,” said the new mother.
Taylor has been a resident of Hayden for about three years and is a student at North Idaho College. She said she’s planning to take Jeriah for a trip to see his grandpa in Illinois later this year.
Her sister, Stephanie Taylor, 15, said Jeriah has been a good baby and enjoys holding him.
“I think he’s pretty cool. He’s cute.”