First valley baby of 2021 born at Desert Regional to ER nurse & firefighter
The first baby of 2021 born in the Coachella Valley was delivered overnight at Desert Regional Medical Center on New Year's Day.
Reagan Hinz was born at 2:48 Friday morning. She weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and was 18 inches long.
Kristie Hinz, the baby's mother, has been a trauma nurse with Desert Regional Medical Center's emergency department for 11 years. Mason Hinz, the father, is a firefighter with Cathedral City Fire Dept. The couple currently lives in Beaumont. Raegan is their first child together.
"I've been feeling good since she got here, a little easier to breathe with 6 lbs out of my tummy," Kristie said. "She decided to make her presence known, apparently with a bang."
Raegan wasn't due for another 10 days. "We were really unsure whether it was going to be 20 or 21, down to the last couple hours," Mason said.
"I was determined to make her last until 2021 because he had bought me a ring with a birthstone for January in it, so she was not allowed to be born in December," Kristie said.
Being on the frontlines every day in the middle of a pandemic, the heroic new parents said their baby girl symbolizes hope after a difficult year.
"She's been a blessing, so she will hopefully continue down her road and make many, many people happy as she's made us," Kristie said.
From saving lives, to bringing a new life into the world, for the Hinz family, 2021 is just the beginning.
