A Fresno woman who was the first baby born at Kaiser Permanente’s Fresno birthing center in 1995 has returned 31 years later to give birth to her own child, creating what her family describes as a full-circle moment.<\/p>\n
Madison Ballew recently gave birth to her son, Casey Ballew-Brown, at the same hospital where she was born.<\/p>\n
“It wasn’t intentional at all. It was just the stars kind of aligned for it,” Ballew said. “My husband got to cut the cord and, you know, see him all cleaned off. And it was it was beautiful. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.”<\/p>\n
Ballew’s mother, Angela Ballew, was at the hospital to celebrate the birth and reflect on the day her daughter became the facility’s first newborn patient.<\/p>\n
According to Angela Ballew, the birthing center had not yet officially opened when she arrived in labor more than three decades ago.<\/p>\n
“And all of the nurses were on the inside of those glass doors saying, ‘We’re finding someone with the keys.’ No one knew how to open the doors because it had never been opened,” she said. “So they let us in and everybody was so excited.”<\/p>\n
Looking through family photo albums, Angela Ballew recalled the excitement surrounding the hospital’s opening day.<\/p>\n
The family said the coincidences surrounding Casey’s birth extend beyond the location. Casey was born on the same day as his grandfather, and some of the nurses who were present for Madison Ballew’s birth were still working at the hospital when her son was delivered.<\/p>\n
Felicia Esqueda, a Kaiser Permanente inpatient lactation consultant, said reconnecting with the family was a memorable experience.<\/p>\n
“And we were just reminiscing and we hugged and it was very exciting. But I remember- I was remembering, and I was telling her about how we were all standing there waiting for her to come,” Esqueda said.<\/p>\n
Angela Ballew said she still remembers the atmosphere the day her daughter was born.<\/p>\n
“I could hear them all out there gathered around the monitors cheering the moment she was born, and I actually could hear them doing that,” she said.<\/p>\n
Now, Madison Ballew and her husband, Joshua Brown, are creating new memories with the newest member of their family.<\/p>\n
“When you hear his cry for the first time, and I saw them take him over to go away, it was unbelievable. It was unbelievable. Probably the most emotional, special experience of my life,” Brown said.<\/p>\n
The couple said they expect to return to the hospital again as their family grows.<\/p>\n
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