By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Baby Julian Santos Gonzalez didn’t wait for his Jan. 3 due date to be born. He had other plans.
He was born just a day early, but his timing garnered him the title of first baby born in 2025 at Wood County Hospital. No babies were born on Jan. 1 at the hospital.
With a full head of beautiful, black hair, weighing a solid 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and measuring 19.5 inches long, Julian was the New Year’s gift to mother and father Kamila “Kami” McFann and Jose Gonzalez, and big brother, 3-year-old Maysn.
“We are so excited to welcome him to the family,” McFann said. “Maysn couldn’t wait to meet him. He is excited to be a big brother, though he may not completely understand how his world might change.”
In the hospital, Julian was pretty chill, his father said.
“He’s been sleeping a lot today. That was hard work,” McFann said.
In addition to Julian’s parents and brother, the hospital was somewhat of a family affair on Thursday.
It’s not unusual for extended family members to be on hand, or nearby when babies are born. However, it just so happened Kami’s brother, Ryan, was working in the emergency room, where he is a registered nurse, and her mother was at the hospital in the process of being discharged.
Ryan got to wheel his sister up to the family birthing center and check on her occasionally with words of encouragement, and her mother stayed to be part of the process, too.
“It was kind of like a Hallmark family movie,” said Ryan. “We were all here to support her. Everything went so smoothly. She was super calm and collected.”
Kami arrived at the hospital at 12:45 p.m. and was dilated at six centimeters. Just over four hours later, at 5:05 p.m. he was born. “It was timed well, but It was very different” than her first birth experience.
With Maysn’s birth, she went to the hospital at 8 a.m. after her water broke even though she was not in active labor. He arrived nearly 24 hours later.
“Everyone here was just wonderful,” she said of the nurses and staff at Wood County Hospital.
The hospital has a warm spot for her, not just because her brother works at the hospital, but because of the tremendous care she received. There was never any doubt she would give birth at Wood County. Not only did she recall having the same great care when Maysn was born, she was also a Wood County Hospital baby, born in 1993.
Mother and father are happy to have two boys to raise. Gonzales didn’t think babies were in his life plan, but once he became a father, his perspective changed.
During the gender reveal in August, they both were thrilled when the smoke pumped out a definitive shade of blue. It didn’t take long for them to decide on a name for the baby boy, Gonzalez said.
They agreed on the name Julian pretty quickly, and Santos, was selected to honor Gonzalez’s older brother, Marcos Santos Gonzalez, who died unexpectedly in a car accident in 2008.
To celebrate Julian’s birth, the hospital’s obstetrics department gifted him a festive New Year’s onesie, a cute little top hat and other goodies. His footprint will be displayed on the Family Birthing Center’s First Footprint display donated by the hospital’s foundation.
Before they left the hospital tonight (Friday), the hospital’s Dietary Department prepared a special celebratory dinner for Kami and Jose. Though they were excited about the meal, they were ready to go home to be a family of four.
“The care has been great, but I’m ready to be in my own bed,” Kami said.
