PORT TOWNSEND — Shelby Thompson’s baby boy came three weeks early, which made him the first baby born in Jefferson County this year.
Thompson gave birth to her first child Thursday at 10:30 a.m. He weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce and was 19 inches long.
It wasn’t the year’s first baby born on the North Olympic Peninsula. That was a boy born Jan. 1 at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, said Bobby Beeman, the hospital’s spokesperson, but she said the parents did not give the hospital permission to share any other details.
Thompson was in labor for 36 hours. Partway through, Jefferson Healthcare hospital staff let her know he would become the first baby of the year in the county.
“That made me smile,” she said. “We were 24 hours into labor and they came in and told me that and I just grinned. It made him that much more special.”
The day-and-a-half-long labor left Thompson tired and sore. Her baby was tuckered out as well.
“They almost made me have a C-section, but I got it done,” she said. “For my first kid, this was kind of rough.”
As of Friday she didn’t yet have a name for her first-born child.
She said it was a bit of a surprise to learn her baby was a boy because everyone had been expecting a girl. Thompson had a name planned for a girl, but now has to come up with something new, she said.
She decided his middle name will be Gene — named for her father — and her boy will take her last name, Thompson.
So far her little one has been pretty quiet.
“He hasn’t really cried,” she said. “He sounds like a little cat sometimes. He makes turtle faces.”
A day into his life, one of his favorite things has been to make poses similar to “The Thinker,” the bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin, she said.
She said it was a little scary having her baby so early. He was due on Jan. 24.
Despite being early, her boy appeared perfectly healthy and she was preparing to head home either Friday afternoon or Saturday.
“He’s pooping and peeing,” she said. “He’s cute and adorable.”
Thompson, a first-time parent, said she doesn’t know if she’s prepared to be a mother, adding that no one is ever actually ready.
“Oh no, oh no. Nope,” she said, laughing, when asked if she was ready. “Yeah, I’m winging it. I think I’ll make a great mom, but I’m not ready for it.”
Thompson’s friend Ambyr Lorenzo, who was at the hospital with Thompson on Friday, said when that when she was younger, Thompson didn’t talk of having children.
“Then she looked at his face and you could tell she was totally in love with him,” Lorenzo said.
“She has great instincts. She’s going to be a good mom.”
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
