ABOYNE – In the early hours of Jan. 1, new parents Jenna Jenkins and Chris Voss of Nunavut celebrated the birth of their first child, the first baby born in Wellington County in 2022.
Jack Christopher Voss was born at Groves Memorial Community Hospital at 3:16am, weighing in at seven pounds and 13 ounces, and 22 inches long. His due date was Dec. 27.
The couple said it was “crazy” and “exciting” to be new parents.
“[It was] just very overwhelming and it was amazing,” Jenkins said of seeing the baby for the first time.
“It’s a lot of build-up and then it’s like, ‘Wow, he’s actually here,’” Voss added.
Having lived in Iqaluit, Nunavut for two years, Voss and Jenkins haven’t been able to come home and visit with family due to the pandemic. So the opportunity to see loved ones over the holidays was exciting for them.
“We haven’t seen everyone in a long time so it was good and then we have the excitement of the baby at the same time,” Voss explained.
Jenkins, originally from Cambridge, and Voss, originally from Waterloo, flew home 36 weeks into the pregnancy to be close to family.
Born at Groves Memorial Community Hospital, Jack Christopher Voss is Wellington County’s first baby of 2022. Submitted photo
The couple had planned to deliver the baby at Cambridge Memorial Hospital, but was sent to Groves because the Cambridge hospital was short staffed.
“We were scheduled to be induced because he was a few days late and just before the doctor came in my water broke and they said, ‘Oh we don’t have room here, so we have to get you out right away’ so we drove straight to Fergus,” Jenkins explained.
“It’s not exactly what we were expecting, but it was good.”
They arrived at Groves shortly after 7pm on Dec. 31.
“But we’re really lucky we did, Fergus is great,” Voss said.
“The nurses and doctors were all amazing,” Jenkins added. “It’s a smaller hospital so it’s been really great.”
Jenkins said the delivery “was pretty smooth sailing, but things picked up really fast, which I guess I wasn’t expecting as the first baby.
“But honestly it was relatively smooth.”
Both Jenkins and Voss will be on parental leave for the next few months before heading back to Iqaluit with their newborn.
“He’s very lucky he has two nurseries because we’re staying with both of our parents,” Jenkins said, noting they’ll be splitting the time between their families.
“Short term it will be nice to be with family and nice to be at home where we can actually spend the time and just focus on the baby for the next couple months,” Voss said.
“Long term it will be fun to bring him to the Arctic, show him all the fun things to see.
“He can grow up there, go fishing with dad, ride on the ATV – that kind of stuff.”
