Robin Poppsinger was due to give birth New Year’s Eve. Lo and behold, as the fireworks began exploding into the air Monday night, her labor picked up. Robin, her husband Cole, and the doula made their way to Swedish Ballard, and at 5:51 a.m. on New Year’s Day, Ralph Elex Poppsinger entered the world.
Elex, as he is going to be known, weighed 8 lbs., 2 oz. and measured 20 inches.
“Everything went smoothly,” said first-time mom Robin. “He was really alert and with it right away…he didn’t look funny.”
Robin and Cole opted not to find out the baby’s gender, which added an element of mystery, says Robin.
The baby is named for his paternal grandfather, Ralph, and his maternal great-great-grandfather, whose family name was Elex. The Elex family emigrated from Lithuania in the early 1900s and settled in Georgia, where Robin was raised.
Elex also had the honor of being the first baby boy to be born at Swedish in 2013. Robin says they received a gift basket with stuffed animals and blankets — but, of course, “this was definitely not on purpose.”
Robin came to Seattle in 2004 to pursue a graduate degree in art therapy. She is a mental health counselor and health coach with Primera. Cole, who moved to Seattle from Cape Cod in 2005, is a manager at a South Lake Union Starbucks.
Robin is looking forward to her four months, and Cole’s one month, of time at home getting to know Elex.
“We both are just so happy, just figuring out how to be a family together,” Robin said.