BROOKINGS – Granger Jared Pratt is a sturdy little boy with a great set of lungs who arrived on New Year’s Day to become Brookings Health System’s New Year’s Baby 2018.

He is the first child of Kristin and Jordan Pratt of Ramona and wasn’t due until Jan. 10. He was born at 3:45 a.m. Jan. 1, tipped the scales at 8 pounds, 4 ounces, and measured 20.5 inches.

His grandparents are Karen Pratt of Harrisburg, Terry Pratt of Huron and Jill Mixon and Dwaine Mixon, both of Georgia.

The couple see their son’s birth as a turning point after a harrowing year. The first of 2017, they lost a grandfather. In June, Jordan’s brother Jared was killed in a car accident in Georgia. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the couple had a house fire July 25 and lost all they had.

“And I sort of think this little guy got us through everything this year,” Kristin said. 

“He’s our little miracle,” Jordan added.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Their community has been “so great,” Kristin said. In September, she re-did her thesis, graduated from school, took the boards and got licensed as a certified nurse practitioner in South Dakota.

Jordan hasn’t been idle; he’s been rebuilding the house. There wasn’t time to do it all before winter, but there’s living quarters and two bedrooms, Kristin said. 

“Not what we had, but very sufficient until we rebuild. He’s done a lot of the work himself,” she said.

“Be happy to bring Granger home,” Jordan said.

“We said new year, fresh year,” Kristin said of their future.

They just didn’t expect it to start that early.

Grandma Jill arrived for a visit on Saturday, but instead of spending New Year’s Eve catching up with her mom, Kristin woke up about 11 p.m. Saturday, throwing up.

“I thought I had the stomach flu,” she said. 

She called her doctor in Huron and told them she’d started contractions about 3 a.m. They said to go in, so Jordan and Kristin set out for Brookings, because Huron was too far. With temperatures setting a record low of -24 degrees, Jordan was praying he wouldn’t have to deliver his own baby on the side of the road.

They arrived at Brookings Health System around 7 a.m. Sunday.

Kristin was dilated to only 3.5 centimeters, so labor didn’t progress quickly, but the doctor had patience.

“He sat here for five hours and waited. He didn’t rush me or anything because I was nauseous and throwing up,” Kristin said. 

Kristin had wanted to “be all natural,” but opted for an epidural when she was dilated to eight centimeters. 

Granger didn’t make it easy on his mom.

“I was pushing for almost four hours,” said Kristin. 

But it was all worth it in the end.

“I’m just glad he did come out alright. He did have a little bit of a high heart rate and swallowed meconium and stuff, but everything’s come out just fine,” she said, adding, “He’s a fighter, though.”

They’ve already found out something about their son.

“He’s got some lungs on him, no doubt about that,” Jordan said, as his wife giggled. “They’re good and healthy.” 

Kristin thanked the entire BHS staff, especially the nurses and doctors.

“Everybody’s been so nice,” she said. “I’m definitely glad we came here and did somewhere local. I was very pleased with all my care.”

For having the New Year’s Baby, the couple received a bunch of gifts from local merchants and organizations.

“It’s just so nice they do that,” Kristin said, adding, “It’ll be like Christmas.”

Although the couple knew they were having a boy, they had a hard time picking a name. 

“Narrowed 5,000 names down to four,” Jordan described their baby-name selection process. 

“We wanted something a little different,” Kristin said of their choices.

“We threw out our favorites and met in the middle with Fisher and Granger, and we decided on Granger,” Jordan said.

“It sounded a little stronger than Fisher,” Kristin said.

Of course, Granger’s middle name is in memory of Jordan’s brother.

The couple – well, Kristin, anyway – is already planning their next one – just not too soon.

“He’ll need a brother or sister, though. He can’t be an only child,” Kristin said.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.