Parents welcome first babies of the new year

It didn’t take long for Steele County’s first baby of the new year to make her appearance.
Emma Lenz arrived at 4:15 p.m. Jan. 1, the daughter of Desiree and Warren Lenz Jr., of Albert Lea.
She’s welcomed home by brother Karter, 11, and sisters Brookelynn, 5, and Jayde, 2.
“Jayde’s still a little unsure, but she’s very protective” of the new baby, said Desiree Lenz.
Emma was a week early, and weighed in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces.
Lenz said she didn’t think about the possibility of the baby being the first of the new year, at least “not at the time. I asked them later,” and sure enough, Emma was the winner. Owatonna Hospital staff provided her with a tiny tiara.
Lenz was induced; driving the 35 miles from home to hospital while in labor “is exactly what we were worried about,” she said, “because Jayde came fast.”
The hospital in Albert Lea stopped providing labor and delivery services in October 2019.
Emma will be their last child, Lenz said, laughing. “No more.”
Warren Lenz is taking the month off from his job at Viracon in Owatonna to help “juggle all three while I take care of Emma,” said Desiree, who is taking maternity leave from Good Samaritan Society in Albert Lea.
Scott and Kayle Balzer of rural Medford are first-time parents – and the first Steele County parents of the new year. Their baby, Brantley Scott, arrived shortly after noon on Jan. 4.
When he didn’t show up by his Jan. 2 due date, doctors scheduled his mom for a Jan. 3 induction. Brantley was still reluctant, and Kayle finally delivered him via Cesarean section the next day.
“He took up every inch of room,” Scott Balzer said of his 8-pound, 4-ounce son – born about the same time of day his father was.
Balzer said he checked the baby board in the OB department at Owatonna Hospital, where births are posted.
“I said, ‘aww, crap, we didn’t get the first baby (of the new year), but we did get the first boy,” he said.
The new family got home Friday, and were expecting a visit from Kayle’s parents, Kelly and Sheila Katzung.
COVID restrictions at the hospital mean extended family and friends must wait to meet the newborns.
No word on whether Brantley will join his dad and grandparents Rick and Cathy Balzer on the family dairy farm, where they milk 120 cows.
Kayle Balzer will have some extended time off from her teaching position at a preschool in Faribault.