CEDAR CITY — Champ Traegan Feinauer is Cedar City Hospital’s Baby New Year 2017. He was born at 1:02 a.m. Jan. 1, 2017. He is also the first child for his proud parents, Clint and Alexa Feinauer.
Both the Feinauers are currently attending Utah State University. Clint Feinauer is a business major, and Alexa Feinauer is a political science major. She also plays on the Utah State University’s women soccer team.
Both were in Brian Head for New Year’s with Alexa’s family.
“Yesterday, I was one day shy of being at 37 weeks along, and had planned to see the doctor after the new year to start getting ready to have my baby,” Alexa Feinauer said. “Well, about one o’clock in the afternoon, my niece asked if she could wear my snow boots to go out and play in the snow. I bent over to get them off my feet, when suddenly, my water broke.”
The soon-t0-be parents and some of Alexa’s family drove her to Cedar City Hospital, where labor was slow until she was given some Pitocin.
After Champ’s arrival, he had a few precautions taken, such as getting some oxygen to help his lungs, but all in all, he’s quite a “Champ.” He weighed in at 6 pounds, 5 ounces and is 18 inches long.
Champ’s mother has some family ties to Iron County, as her grandfather, Lynn Leany, owned a ranch near the Three Peaks area and was a major donor to the Cedar City Fire department, before passing away here in Cedar City.
And mother and son also have a strong and very coincidental tie to Cedar City Hospital.
“It turns out that my brother and sister-in-law, Austin and Ashley Hunt, had their baby Chandler here at Cedar City Hospital in 2012,” Alexa Feinauer said, “and Chandler was the New Year baby that year too. In fact we’ve had the same nurse – Annie Gibson – that helped with Chandler help with Champ’s birth.”
Gibson said she appreciates the opportunity to have helped deliver another New Years Baby.
“I got a call from Ashley (Hunt) saying ‘You’re working today, right? You helped with one New Year Baby, you might have two from the same family now. My sister-in-law Alexa is heading in!’” Gibson said. “It’s always fun to welcome Baby New Year, and it’s been fun to have started a small tradition of Baby New Years from the Hunt family!”
Cedar City Hospital presents the family of Baby New Year with a gift package of infant items, which includes a $100 gift certificate to Cedar City Hospital’s gift shop.
Although Champ is the first new arrival at Cedar City Hospital for 2017, 859 babies were born at Cedar City Hospital in 2016.
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