SALEM — The new year already looks bright for one North Shore family.
At 7:29 p.m. on New Year’s Day, Marblehead’s Kaitlyn and Jake Carlson welcomed their son, Russell James Carlson, to the world as North Shore Medical Center’s first newborn of 2021.
“We’re honored,” mom Kaitlyn said Saturday from the hospital. “My due date was actually Christmas day, so he was going to pick one of the holidays.”
Baby Russell was born weighing eight pounds and eight ounces and measuring 20 inches long. He was delivered by Dr. Anastasia Koniaris in NSMC Salem Hospital’s Birthplace.
The first grandchild for both sides, the Carlsons said Russell’s arrival has been eagerly awaited by everyone in the family.
“We’re thrilled,” Kaitlyn said.
“And very sleep-deprived,” Jake added, noting that the experience went “extremely smooth and better than expected” for the first-time parents.
As the effects of 2020 still linger, however, Kaitlyn and Jake said only a few immediate family members who have tested negative for COVID-19 will be introduced to Russell when the couple — who met in 2012 and moved to Marblehead just over a year ago — head home later this week.
“It’s obviously been a pretty stressful time,” Kaitlyn said. “My family lives in the area and has been good about quarantining because they all want to see the baby. Jake’s parents flew up from Houston on the 20th, quarantined, got negative test results, and then hunkered down with us until we left for the hospital.”
Perhaps a future athlete, Russell’s January birth date is especially notable for Kaitlyn, who played Division III hockey during her time at Amherst College and has since played in numerous men’s leagues and different team events during her professional career.
“I’m told January (is an) important time to be born if you want to be a hockey player,” said Jake, a former baseball player himself. “That’s something special to her, and I think when we’re able to we’ll get him into hockey and see if that holds true.”
A press release from the hospital stated physicians at the NSMC Birthplace deliver nearly 1,300 babies every year.
“We’re so grateful for the birthing center here at North Shore Medical Center. The nurses, the physicians, the doctors were all just A plus plus and amazing,” Jake said.
He later added: “Kaitlyn did an amazing job and I’m proud of her. In a weird way, it being our first experience, just going through it together, it was fun just being there for each other. It’s amazing.”
