MONROE — Monroe Clinic recently welcomed the first babies of 2019 and both families have already returned home and are settling in with their additional family members.

Breanna Staver, Scales Mound, Illinois, welcomed the first baby into the New Year early Jan. 2 at Monroe Clinic when baby girl Madison Rose Staver came along right around her due date. She weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and was 20 and a half inches long.

She was welcomed to the world just a couple of days earlier than her due date of Jan. 4. The evening of New Year’s Eve, Breanna said she went in to the hospital experiencing pain and the baby came swiftly at 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 2 without complications.  

Madison isn’t named after anyone, but Breanna said she plans to call her “Maddie.” She knew she was having a girl and is enjoying shopping for her. At just a few days old, Maddie was already finding style in a pink headband and matching outfit. 

Everyone seems to think she resembles her mom.

“She’s identical to my baby picture,” Breanna said.

When nurses let Breanna know her daughter might be the New Year’s baby, she said she was surprised. Monroe Clinic gifted her a statue of mother and baby as well as a toy and a book for the honors. 

Now at home in Scales Mound, Illinois, Breanna said Madison is happy and is also enjoying time with grandparents, Tom and Patty Staver, also of Scales Mound. 

The New Year’s baby boy, Lincoln David Hargreaves, came in at 10 pounds, 14 ounces. His mother, Cassandra Smith, said delivering a child that big wasn’t as easy as everyone seemed to think it would be.

“I thought once the head and shoulders came out I was in the clear,” Smith said. “That all changed once I heard the doctor say ‘oh, his butt is stuck.’ I don’t think anyone in the room was ready for that comment.”

Lincoln was 21.5 inches long and was born at 8:18 p.m. Jan. 2, just a few days before his Jan. 6 due date.

Her pregnancy was also fairly easy, and she said she was in full “nesting” mode toward the end, even trying to move a 150 pound desk out of her home, which she noted is funny to think back on now.  

Lincoln is now settling in at home in Forreston, Illinois, and has been getting lots of attention otherwise from his father, Jacob Hargreaves, and siblings: Wyatt Smith, 7; Kyson Hargreaves, 5 and Ayva Smith, 3. Cassandra said he’s a wonderful baby who loves to sleep, rarely cries and loves to just look at the world around him. 

Grandparents of Lincoln are Vicki Smith and Michael Kuelling, Forreston and David Knipper and Sue Knipper, Clinton, Iowa.