Welcome Beaufort County’s first babies of 2017

2017 has brought with it a few new residents of Beaufort County.

Port Royal mom Leayn Barber and Larry Kaczowka have a new baby boy and Layn Barber, 10, has a baby brother to start the new year. And he was the first baby born in the county in 2017.

John Lance Barber-Kaczowka was due Dec. 31. It seemed like he’d be born in the evening, Barber said from Beaufort Memorial Hospital, but he gave mom a hard time and held on until 7:32 a.m. Jan. 1.

Lance, as they’ll call him, was born at a healthy 8 pounds, 10 ounces and 20 inches long and is proving to be a fairly calm baby so far, if a little stubborn, Barber said.

The new baby’s name is a two-fold tradition. “John” comes from his paternal grandfather, and “Lance” was inspired by the series of “L” names in his immediate family, Barber explained. For a while, it looked like Lance was going to be a girl, so his family picked out “Lacey” or “Lacy” for him, but he was apparently just a little camera shy and soon had his parents scrambling for a male “L” name they both liked.

Already, the little man likes to be on the move, his big sister said. He likes to be bounced and kept in motion and tends to keep his tiny hands by his face — maybe with some boxing in his big, bright future.

“I had the best nurses ever,” Barber said. “Without them, I don’t know what I would have done.”

She got to the hospital around 8 p.m. Friday and had off-duty nurses come back to check on her and the baby between then and Sunday morning, anxiously awaiting the newborn.

The born-and-raised Port Royal family will soon be heading home with their new little bundle of joy.

The first Coastal Carolina Hospital baby of 2017 was baby boy Zanias, born 8 pounds, 3 ounces to Javassia Robinson of Beaufort at 8:38 a.m., according to Director of Public Relations and Marketing Carolyn Grant.

The first Hilton Head Hospital baby of 2017 was born at 10:11 a.m., a baby girl not yet named born to the Cohen family, according to PR and Marketing Manager Lydia Hill.

This story was originally published January 1, 2017 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Welcome Beaufort County’s first babies of 2017."