The year ended rough for expectant parents and newlyweds Lynn and Geoff Radtke.
When Lynn noticed a drop in fetal movement, the Bellevue couple went to Evergreen Hospital Medical Center on Dec. 31. Blood tests showed that Lynn had signs of preclampsia and high blood pressure, so the couple had one objective – get the baby out.
That afternoon, doctors induced Lynn’s pregnancy. After a 12-hour labor, she gave birth to healthy daughter, Delaney – and Evergreen’s first baby of the New Year – at 12:54 a.m., Jan. 1. Delaney weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce and measured 19.7 inches.
That afternoon, Geoff sat at Lynn’s bedside, holding his firstborn and marveling over her tiny features. The room was filled with excited aunts, uncles, grandparents and Lynn’s mother, Ronda.
“We thought we would totally miss it,” said Geoff, 24, of the New Year delivery. “But she actually hit her due date.”
Lynn, 25, said she was surprised to find out later that afternoon that she had delivered Evergreen’s first baby of 2009.
“It seemed pretty busy here last night,” she said. “So it was cool.”
Evergreen Hospital also welcomed the last baby of 2008, born to Bellevue couple Rajani Makam and husband, Shiva Konduru.
Born in the final hours of 2008 at 10:29 p.m., their son, Arnav Konduru, weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches.
“Usually, all the big hoopla is for the first baby of the year,” said Anju Jain, manager of the Sammamish H&R Block. She and fellow manager Ramana Kodati presented the new parents with a diaper bag filled with newborn essentials and offered them free tax consultations for a year. “The last baby of the year will bring thousands of dollars in tax savings for parents,” Jain said, noting the family could claim a 2008 fiscal year deduction for their son.
After an emergency C-section and long delivery, Shiva said his wife was still tired, but that they were excited to hear their son was the last born at Evergreen during 2008.
“We’re closing on a house too, so we’re happy,” he said of the tax services they will receive from H&R Block.
“He’s been very nice so far,” Rajani said of the couple’s firstborn.
