First Sacramento-area baby of 2021 — born 19 minutes in — ushers in a ‘year of hope’
Just 19 minutes into 2021, Elizabeth Creasman was born at Kaiser Roseville.
Elizabeth — 9 pounds, 1 ounce — is the very first baby born in the greater Sacramento area in the new year, and although we all know 2020 was a rough year all around due to the coronavirus pandemic, nobody knows that better than Traci Creasman, the infant’s mother.
She and Matthew Creasman, the baby’s father, learned of their pregnancy just before the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and in the nine months that followed, the virus’ spread has only intensified.
Like most people in those early days, Traci and Matthew shrugged and said “hopefully this will blow over.”
It did not blow over. Managing all the aspects of pregnancy is difficult enough, even without a global pandemic on.
“It’s another layer of concern” to a long list of concerns during pregnancy, Traci said in a phone call with The Sacramento Bee. That meant plenty of added precautions and a touch of worry over possible health effects if she were to come down with COVID-19 while pregnant.
Because of the pandemic, she remained isolated from her family and friends who normally would have been a major part of her journey — and having three other children, ages 17, 8 and 5, Traci speaks with plenty of comparative experience.
“I’m thankful I didn’t have my first during the pandemic,” she said.
For one thing, her husband could not attend most of her appointments at the hospital. He couldn’t watch as she was given an ultrasound and see, alongside her, the revealing outline of baby Elizabeth, as he did for all of her other pregnancies.
“Everything was by myself,” Traci said, and she missed the “lack of community” normally there to help support her through her pregnancy, although Matthew was allowed to be with her for the birth itself. Traci’s mother, however, could not attend due to coronavirus concerns.
Part of what makes Elizabeth’s birth special is the unique timing. Add in the fact that several family members share a Dec. 31 birthday, the day that Traci was induced to give birth — a process which lasted all the way from 11 a.m. to just past midnight on Jan. 1. It was hard for her to imagine the birth would last more than a few hours, let alone all the way into 2021. Traci said it was as if Elizabeth wanted her own day.
But Traci said another special element to consider in her birth is the “year of hope” which Elizabeth has ushered in.
“2020 was a very difficult year for many people,” she said. “But there’s always blessings ... always positives amidst the negatives.”
Elizabeth is a testament to that. Her mother describes her as “a ray of sunshine” lighting up at the turning of the new year.
And to Traci, there’s no better day for Elizabeth to come into the world. On every New Year’s Day from now on, there will be fireworks and celebration all across the world to coincide with her birthday.
“It’s the best holiday to be born on,” she said.
This story was originally published January 1, 2021 at 12:37 PM.
