The St. Joseph’s Hospital family keeps growing every month. Not just due to new doctors, nurses and other personnel, but mainly due to new babies. From 2017 to present, the hospital family has had a lot of new additions.
There are 26 new mamas who are still on maternity leave or have just recently returned to work. And there are many more soon-to-be mommas.
Even though most of the young mothers are off work now, they remain a family and stay in touch all the time. And the naturally-formed club means a lot for many of them.
“We’ve been a wonderful support for one another. A lot of us are first time moms, so it’s been really, really nice to have each other to depend on,” said Kelly Vatamaniuck, St. Joseph’s hospital registered nurse (RN), whose son Wyatt was born last April.
Vatamaniuck is one of the active participants of the hospital’s moms club.
“We just have each others’ information. We have a paper page for all the moms on mat leave, so we can help exchange information if we need help, or if we just want to get together, or we want to give something to somebody,” Vatamaniuck said.
There are a total of 32 nurses and other staff members with new babies starting from March 2017 to present. This means that there was more than one baby born almost every month through 2017 and 2018.
“This trend has been going on for so long, now we have some mommas on round two this year,” Vatamaniuck said.
Mothers and their kids get together on a regular basis for baby showers, play days or just for coffee. And every time it happens, they try to get a picture of their kids all together.
“Especially with events like Halloween or Christmas, we get them all dressed up. It’s a challenge, but we can get it done,” Vatamaniuck said.
Seeing each other quite often kids, especially older ones, get along well, even though not all of them meet every time.
“I don’t think all of us have ever got together. We usually end up getting together a lot when there is another baby shower,” she added.
The next time they are planning on getting together is Jan. 24. Little Halle was born in December 2018, and Mallory Olson is having a baby shower. And while the mommas club was waiting for this event, Kelsey Emde had her baby son, Dawson, on Jan. 14.
St. Joseph’s hospital recent mothers:
Born in 2017:
Jenna Lesy (physiotherapist (PT)) with son Bodhi (March 2017); Corissa Keyes (RN) with daughter Blakely (April 2017); Kristin Simonson Biggs (medical laboratory technician (MLT)) with son Nash (April 2017); Anita Messner (RN) with daughter Kaitlyn (June 2017); Cassie Bonokoski (MLT) with son Tyson (September 2017); Chrysta Curtis (licensed practical nurse (LPN)) with son Jett (October 2017); Rebecca Blenkin (RN) with daughter Ella (October 2017); Kirsten Walliser (RN) with son Zeke (November 2017); Ashleigh Dzuba (RN) with son Wells (December 2017); Leah Bowen (RN) with daughter Addison (December 2017).
Born in 2018:
Jessica Gorgerat (RN) with daughter Briar (January 2018); Vanessa Dumais (RN) with daughter Mila (January 2018); Brittany Wilhelm (RN) with daughter Claire (February 2018); Kelly Vatamaniuck (RN) with son Wyatt (April 2018); Chelsea Meyer (RN) with son Jaxton (April 2018); Jackie Betts (medical radiation technologist (MRT)) with son Mac (April 2018); Kristen Seipp (occupational therapist (OT)) with daughter Parker (April 2018); Paige Kendall (RN) with son Fox (May 2018); Abby Fornwald (RN) with son Walker (May 2018); Crystal Goudy (RN) with son Cash (June 2018); Tanisha Mack (medical laboratory assistant (MLA)) with daughter Mia (June 2018); Nicole Hirsch (LPN) with son Huxton (June 2018); Megan Lingelbach (Dietitian) with daughter Hazel (August 2018); Jennifer Tetreault (RN) with son Hudson (September 2018); Janel Espelien (LPN) with daughter Alice (September 2018); Mallory Olson (RN) with daughter Halle (December 2018).
Born in 2019:
Jill Alexander (RN) with daughter Blake (January 2019); Kelsey Emde (CLXT) with son Dawson (January 2019).
Awaiting babies in 2019:
Baby Friess in February 2019 (Kimberly Friess, RN); baby Curtis in February 2019 (Chrysta Curtis, LPN); baby Selk in March 2019 (Danielle Selk, speech-language pathologist (SLP)); baby Barlow in March 2019 (Kelsey Barlow, LPN); Corissa Keyes' (RN) new baby is due May 2019; baby Leclair in May 2019 (Jacine Leclair, RN); baby Lesy in June 2019 (Jenna Lesy, PT); baby Wenet in June 2019 (Brooklyn Wenet, LPN).
