It's a Boy! Merrimack Couple Welcomes First Baby of New Year

By Carol Robidoux

It was a busy New Year's Eve at area maternity wards, with four newborns all crossing the proverbial finish line for "first NH baby" status within a half hour of the stroke of midnight.

In Nashua, Apollo Peterson was the first baby to be born, arriving at 12:12 a.m. to mom and dad, Samantha and Matt Peterson. He weighed in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 21 1/4 inches long. Apollo is the fourth child for the Merrimack couple, and his name is a nod to the family's mix of Irish and Greek heritage. His proud brother and sisters include Athens, 4; Penny, 2; and Athena, 13-months old.

Sheila Caron, spokesperson for St. Joseph Hospital, originally thought that baby Apollo was the first New Hampshire baby, but later learned that a baby was delivered at Milford's Birth Cottage at 12:05 a.m., a birthing center. On a technicality, Caron is still celebrating being No. 1. 

"I guess we can still say we are the first hospital in New Hampshire," Caron said.

First to make an appearance was Luke Micah Lanctot, weighing 8 pounds 11 ounces, born to Jenny and Eli Lanctot of Milford. Luke’s due date was Christmas Day, but he decided to delay making his appearance until the new year, according to Autumn Vergo, CPM, RN, of the Birth Cottage.

“Luke is healthy, strong, and a good eater. So far he has slept away most of his first day. What better way is there to spend your first New Year’s Day, anyway?” said Jenny Lanctot.

The Birth Cottage of Milford is a freestanding birth center and homebirth midwifery service, caring for Southern New Hampshire’s women and families since 2005, providing pregnancy and well-woman care as well as prenatal classes and mothers’ groups.  

The other two January 1 births included a baby born at 12:21 a.m. at Southern New Hampshire Health Systems in Nashua and a 12:30 a.m. arrival at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester.