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Submitted by Providence

The first baby of 2022 born at Providence Centralia Hospital came into the world at 9:55 p.m. It was the only baby born on January 1 at Providence Centralia.

Penelope Lee Crow weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 19 inches long. She is the only daughter of KC Roller and Gerith Crow of Chehalis.

Providence
Penelope Lee Crow was the first baby of 2022 born at Providence Centralia Hospital. Photo courtesy: Providence

Penelope was delivered by Dr. Jennifer Scalici of the Providence Centralia Women’s Center.

The couple came to the hospital after KC’s water broke at 11:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

“We were just at home watching a movie getting ready for the New Year when my water broke,” KC said. “I didn’t have any other signs of labor.”

KC’s due date was December 27, and January 3 had been scheduled for an inducement date. Penelope entered the world after more than 19 hours of labor.

The new mom has been looking forward to the name Penelope for a girl for as long as she can remember.

“I’ve just always loved that name,” KC said. The couple decided on the middle name, Lee, after Penelope’s great-grandmother.

After a couple of days and lots of “Facetiming” and calls with family and friends to share the good news about Penelope’s arrival, the family was ready to be discharged from the hospital Monday.

KC is looking forward to a few months bonding with Penelope before returning to work at PetSense in Chehalis, where she works as a dog groomer. Gerith, who works at North Pacific Paper Corp. in Longview, is also eager to get some time off to spend as a family.

“I wish I could take these nurses with me,” KC said. “But I’m as ready to go as I’ll ever be.”

There were 637 babies born at Providence Centralia in 2021; similar to numbers in the past several years, 685 in 2020, 632 in 2019, 662 in 2018, and 684 in 2017.

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