CEDAR CITY — Onyx Lowery, who arrived at 7:26 a.m. on New Year’s Day, is Cedar City Hospital’s first baby born in 2022.
Onyx weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 18.5 inches long. His proud parents are Heather Lowery and Colton Roberts of Cedar City.
Mother and baby are both doing extremely well, hospital spokesman Becki Bronson reported in a news release.
Onyx will be joining his big brother, 9-year-old Liam, who has been “very anxious to meet his little brother,” Heather reported.
Heather Lowery said she decided that she wanted to have a natural birth with her second child.
“After my delivery with Liam, I had some trouble with the epidural, and it did not feel right for me,” she said. “I felt like with this pregnancy I wanted to trust my intuition and let my body do what it naturally knows to do.”
Added Lowery: “I worked with my doctor and we talked at length about different options. I also did a lot of research on my own on natural childbirth, like how to get through hard moments when you want to give up, trusting your body. One thing I loved was utilizing hypnobirthing. It’s a method of pain management during labor and birth that uses a mixture of visualization, relaxation and deep breathing techniques.”
Those techniques came in very handy as Lowery came into Cedar City Hospital about 8 p.m. Friday, in full labor.
Without an epidural, she said, “It was definitely intense!”
“But I’m really glad I stuck with the natural birth plan,” Lowery added. “And it was so fun to have the New Year Baby. I got to watch the New Year Ball drop on TV here in the hospital as I walked the halls.”
“Snowstorms typically bring babies, but even with the snow we had in Cedar it was just a super quiet and calm experience, and really the best way to ring in a new year.”
As it turns out, Lowery and labor nurse Kendra Hansen are great friends.
“We were cheerleaders together in high school, and Kendra’s husband was homecoming king and I was homecoming queen at Canyon View High School,” Lowery recalled. “I was so thrilled when shift change happened and Kendra became my nurse. It’s so amazing she was going to be here with me through this. She was definitely my rock through labor.”
Lowery said her love of precious stones helped her choose the name Onyx for her son.
“I wear black onyx at all times,” Lowery said. “The onyx stone is for protection and is a warrior stone. Onyx is about taking negativity and transmuting it into positivity, and I feel like my baby Onyx has already done that so much for my life.”
“It’s been a hard year for many people,” she added. “He’s taken a dark time and turned it into one of the best moments ever. He lives up to his name already! He’s very calm, still, and grounded. All the nurses noted that about him already, and I agree.”
And a birthday of 1-1-22? “I feel that’s a good luck birthday!” Lowery said. “It’s a pretty awesome day to come into the world!”
According to Bronson, Cedar City Hospital had exactly 900 births in 2021, the most births the hospital has had in more than 15 years. In comparison, in Cedar City Hospital had 817 births in 2020 and 799 births in 2019.
Written by BECKI BRONSON, Cedar City Hospital spokeswoman.
Photo Gallery
Onyx Lowery, the first baby born at Cedar City Hospital in 2022. Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 1, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Cedar City Hospital, St. George News / Cedar City News Onyx Lowery, the first baby born at Cedar City Hospital in 2022. Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 1, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Cedar City Hospital, St. George News / Cedar City News Heather Lowery of Cedar City holds newborn son Onyx, the first baby born at Cedar City Hospital in 2022. Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 1, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Cedar City Hospital, St. George News / Cedar City News Heather Lowery of Cedar City holds newborn son Onyx, the first baby born at Cedar City Hospital in 2022. Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 1, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Cedar City Hospital, St. George News / Cedar City News Heather Lowery of Cedar City holds newborn son Onyx, the first baby born at Cedar City Hospital in 2022. Also pictured are Onyx's father Colton Roberts (far left) and nurses (L-R) Sherry Allen, Jessica Miles and Kendra Hansen, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 1, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Cedar City Hospital, St. George News / Cedar City News
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.