SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — While some people make ornaments to commemorate the birth of their babies, there’s a different tradition that lives on with December newborns at Sanford health.
Mary Kate and Bradlee Schultz just had their first child Lance over the weekend.
“Came in on Friday and thought we would have a baby on Friday and then he wanted to wait one more day closer to Christmas. So here we have him on Saturday,” Lance’s parents said.
Since Lance was born in the month of December, a special gift is going home with him and his parents.
“Our Sanford volunteers have been making stockings for over 65 years. So this has become quite the tradition and they make them all throughout the year and then we deliver them to all the newborn babies in December,” Sanford’s manager of volunteer services Becca Conner said.
It’s a tradition that goes back generations.
“I know we’ve heard wonderful stories of parents who have gotten this stocking when they were born and now they’ve had their own child in December and have gotten a stocking. And so they celebrate that tradition in their household,” Conner said.
And for the Schultzes, it is a welcomed parting gift as they hope to go home today.
“I’m super excited. Everyone now is like, oh, their birthday is like ruined because they have a big Christmas holiday and whatever else. But you know, Christmas is more about it, more than just gifts. And we’re still going to make his birthday special every year. He still gets his own day 21st. So that’s Lance’s day,” Mary Kate said.
Giving the Christmas babies and their families something to remember for years to come.
