Bergs welcome first baby in Steele County
The Berg family of rural New Richland welcomed the first baby born in Steele County in 2023. From left are Ada, 4; Lindsey, holding Mina; and Lyla, 2½, sitting on Tait’s lap. Ada picked the outfits for the girls’ first photo shoot, her mother said, and “Lyla is still figuring out what she thinks about no longer being the youngest in the family.” Submitted photo
Tait Berg is finding himself in a sea of pink these days, and he couldn’t be happier.
His wife, Lindsey Berg, gave birth to the first baby born in Steele County in 2023 – the couple’s third daughter.
Mina Ashton was born at 1:07 p.m. Jan. 3 at Owatonna Hospital.
She joins big sisters Ada, 4, and Lyla, 2½. The Bergs live in the country between Ellendale and New Richland.
While Mina’s Jan. 3 birthday wasn’t unexpected – Lindsey had a scheduled Caesarian section – the couple didn’t expect to have the first baby of the new year.
“They told us we were the first birth, which I thought was pretty surprising, but I guess you never know,” Tait said.
The two older girls are excited, he said, and first met their little sister over FaceTime. Mina came home on Jan. 5 and met Ada and Lyla in person.
Lindsey’s feeling “pretty good; getting better every day,” she said.
Despite knowing the delivery date “unless she decided to come earlier,” the Bergs kept a close eye on the weather forecast.
It was, in a word, grim.
“We were a little nervous, thinking about how we’d be able to get to the hospital, because there was an ice storm warning,” Lindsey said.
Family friends offered to let them stay at their home in Owatonna the night of Jan. 2, but the couple declined.
It would have been closer, and possibly less stressful, she said, “but we just decided, I’d rather stay in my own bed and give ourselves extra time getting to the hospital. We took it slow on the way in.”
The couple graduated together from New Richland Hartland Ellendale Geneva High School but didn’t start dating until after college.
“He moved up to the metro area after college, which was where I was living, and that’s where we reconnected and started dating,” Lindsey said. “We never dated during high school or college, it was all after.”
Both sets of grandparents live in the New Richland area, so family is close by for extra hands.
The couple knew they were expecting a girl but didn’t tell anyone ahead of time.
“Most of my family was guessing it was going to be a boy, so they were surprised to hear it was another girl,” Lindsey said.
Still, she said, “you never know what might happen. We think Mina might complete our family, so I guess we’ll see what happens.”