When Jackie Bryce went into labor Tuesday her husband was still at work in Wood River.
The Hastings couple came into Mary Lanning Healthcare in Hastings when Michael, 30, got off work at the Green Plains ethanol plant at Wood River, arriving at the hospital around 8:10 a.m. Wednesday. Jackie, 26, gave birth to Elizabeth Marie Bryce at 12:30 p.m.
Elizabeth was the first baby born at Mary Lanning Healthcare in 2020.
“She’s happy, healthy and beautiful,” Michael said.
Jackie was due Jan. 4.
She was surprised her daughter was Mary Lanning’s first baby of the year.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” she said.
Elizabeth was 20 ½ inches long, weighed 8 pounds and 4.25 ounces, and had a head circumference of 13 ½ inches.
Elizabeth joins a family that includes brothers Alex, 7, and Cameron, 3, and sister Maggie, 5.
“I was pretty stoked that she waited until the 1st,” Michael said. “All of the others had been early. She made it the full term with this one. I was excited for that. I like babies. I was happy.”
Elizabeth’s older siblings hadn’t met her as of late Wednesday afternoon.
“But they were excited for the prospect of getting a baby sister,” Michael said.
Elizabeth’s birth comes as Mary Lanning continues to see large numbers of babies born at the hospital.
In December 2018, Mary Lanning saw a record number of 104 babies in a single month at the hospital. Previously, the most babies ever delivered in one month was 98.
By mid-day Tuesday Mary Lanning’s Family Care Center was close to tying the 2018 number.