First baby born in Pearl River County in the new year

Published 5:03 pm Monday, January 4, 2021

The first baby born in Pearl River County in 2021 arrived earlier than expected.

Hank Gibson was born Jan. 2 at 12:01 p.m. at Highland Community Hospital to Picayune couple Jennifer and Brett Gibson.

Jennifer is a labor and delivery nurse at Highland and her husband Brett is a foreman at Textron in New Orleans.

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“Highland took wonderful care of me and Hank,” said Jennifer.

Her doctor is in Hattiesburg, but at 32 weeks, Hank came very early, so she needed to deliver closer to home.

“I knew all my friends were working and it was closer, and I couldn’t make it to Hattiesburg, and I knew they would take care of the baby and they did. It was wonderful.”

Hank is at the NICU at Forrest General in Hattiesburg and is doing well, said Jennifer.

“I’m just grateful that Hank is okay, because he was born very early, and everybody’s taking good care of him.”

Hank is the Gibson’s fifth child. They also have an eight-year-old, and will soon celebrate birthdays for their almost-two, almost-four and almost-six-year old children. The children all have birthdays in January, February and March.