Young Shelton Family Welcomes Thurston County’s First Baby of 2020

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A young family of four from Shelton has more to celebrate than just the new year this week.

Louisa Annalee Duggan was the first baby born at Providence St. Peter Hospital in 2020. She came into the world at 12:39 a.m. on Jan. 1.

She is the daughter of Rebecca Price and James Duggan and weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 19 inches. She joins her siblings, 3-year-old Leena Price and 18-month-old Xander Duggan.

On Thursday, shortly after waking from a midday nap, Becca Price described her newborn girl over the phone to the Nisqually Valley News. While she looks a lot like her brother, Xander, Price said her dark hair contrasts with her siblings.

“She’s a good mix between mom and dad, though,” Price said.

The young family was at home in Shelton on the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 31, when Price realized it was time to deliver the baby.

Price said her daughter wasn’t due until Jan. 4 and the family planned on celebrating New Year’s early and going to bed by 9 p.m.



“I was out at the stores, running around, when I got a call that she was going into labor,” James Duggan said.

Grandmother Jeanette Forre-Price, known by the family as “Ya-Ya,” promptly drove the couple to the hospital, where they arrived at about 9 p.m.

Price said she went into labor for about three hours and Louisa came into the world 39 minutes into the new year.

Louisa is named after Duggan’s great grandmother, who he said was born on Independence Day.

“My mother posted on Facebook that she wanted to come into the world with fireworks like her grandmother,” Duggan said.

According to Chris Thomas, senior communications manager with Providence Health and Services, there were a total of 2,201 babies born at Providence St. Peter Hospital in 2019. There were four babies born at the hospital before 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day.