New year brings new bundles of joy in Clark County

Go time for baby Gracie hit quickly at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center’s Family Birth Center early on New Year’s Day.

Devan Milliman, a 21-year-old woman from Castle Rock, was induced into labor on New Year’s Eve, but for the first few hours, there was little movement from Milliman or Gracie.

It wasn’t until about 3:30 a.m., after the calendars had flipped on a new year, that mom was ready to start pushing.

But once she did, things moved fast.

All told, Milliman was only pushing for 10 or 15 minutes, she said, and little Gracie entered the world at 3:38 a.m., the first baby born in Clark County in 2019. Gracie, weighing 8 pounds 13 ounces, is the second daughter for Milliman and her partner, Josh Morrow.

Their older daughter, Kenlee, is nearly 2 years old.

“I think it’s really cool,” Milliman said of having Clark County’s first New Year’s baby. “I got bragging rights for that.”

It was a busy day at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center’s neonatal unit. Spokeswoman Kelly Love said at about 1 p.m. that five babies had been delivered since 6 a.m. PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center’s Family Birth Center welcomed its first baby, Rose Mae Boldt, at 4:19 a.m. Rose, 6 pounds 3 ounces, is the daughter of Steven and Angela Boldt.

Milliman said for a time, she was racing another woman in the Legacy birthing unit who was in labor at the same time she was. There was “a little competition” to see who would cross the finish line first.

“My mom was like ‘Devan, you can do it,’ ” Milliman said.

Milliman also added, with a note of pride, that she gave birth to Gracie and her older sister, Kenlee, without epidural anesthesia. That was important to her, she said.

“It’s something I’ve always put in my head,” Milliman said. “If my grandma and my mom can do it, then I can do it. It’s mind over matter, the kind of determination that I have.”

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