It's a boy! First New Year's baby born to Greensburg woman

Siearra Pantojas of Greensburg received an early New Year’s Day surprise.

A healthy baby boy.

Pantojas, 21, was out shopping when she went into labor early on New Year’s Eve.

After about five hours of hard labor, she welcomed son Bentlee Cole, the first 2021 baby born at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, part of the Allegheny Health Network system.

Originally due Jan. 28, Bentlee was born at 12:13 a.m. Friday. He weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce and is 18 inches long.

In a phone interview from her hospital room on New Year’s Day, Pantojas said Bentlee is “doing good.”

The first-time mom said she considers Bentlee’s timing lucky.

“I feel lucky because 2020 was crap and this year I’m hoping will be better,” Pantojas said.

Proud grandmother Donna Palmer of Greensburg was by her daughter’s side for the delivery. She said she’s happy to kick off her new year with a new grandbaby.

“It’s an amazing start to the new year, because 2020 was horrible because of the covid,” Palmer said. “As a grandmother, this is the best feeling in the world.”

Pantojas said deciding on the name was easy.

“I’ve always liked the name Bentlee, and I wanted something different,” said Pantojas, who works full time.

1st newborn at Excela

At Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg, an Indiana County couple was the first to ring in the New Year with a baby boy.

Kevin Reynolds Mancuso was born at 7:29 a.m. Friday. Kevin weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 20-3/4 inches long.

His parents, Keith and Tiffany Mancuso, are familiar with unconventional deliveries.

As the dispatcher for Smith Bus Co., Keith has been sending drivers on runs to drop off schoolwork or lunches at student homes, as well as pick up children enrolled in hybrid learning during the time of covid-19.

Tiffany is an instructional specialist and cyber administrator in the Marion Center School District, employing many inventive learning tools to keep students engaged while learning remotely.

“We couldn’t have been more blessed getting to start 2021 with a new healthy baby,” Tiffany said.

As parents of the first baby of 2021 born at Excela Health, the Mancuso family’s New Year’s Day delivery also was out of the ordinary, because it was a planned C-section, which just happened to coincide with Jan. 1.

Tiffany’s due date was actually Jan. 8, but she said her obstetrician, Dr. Beth Maxwell of Excela Health, schedules cesarean births once mothers-to-be reach 39 weeks for the health and safety of both mother and baby. And Jan. 1 is the day Tiffany reached that pregnancy milestone.

Kevin is the first Mancuso baby in 35 years, and shares his father’s initials and middle name, carrying forward a grandmother’s family name.

The couple’s first child together, Kevin will be welcomed home by two older brothers, Connor, 9, and Logan, 7.

And talk about odds. All three boys have January birthdays, and they occurred on odd-numbered days of the month and odd-numbered years.

“It’s going to be Christmas after Christmas during January at our house from now on,” Tiffany said.

Keith and Tiffany Mancuso said Kevin’s brothers during a Facetime meeting were surprised by his thick black hair and how little he was, but at the same time how alert he is.

“I guess they thought they could start playing together right away when we bring him home Sunday,” Tiffany laughed.

The first 2021 baby born in the UPMC health network was Carter Magee, son of Jennifer Celender and Patrick Magee of Verona.