COLUMBUS, Ind. — Bartholomew County’s first baby of 2026 arrived at Columbus Regional Hospital just a short time after the arrival of the new year.
The county’s first baby is Lola Kay-Marie, born at 1:08 a.m. Thursday, the first child for Blake and Grace James, Columbus. Her original due date was Jan. 9.
Lola weighed in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces, 21-inches long, and joins several “grandsons” and just one other “granddaughter” in the extended family.
Blake is a wastewater plant operator for the city of Columbus and Grace is a kindergarten teacher at CSA Fodrea in the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
Extended family also played a role in Lola’s arrival, the new parents said. CRH registered nurse Sarah Hudson, older sister of Grace, helped in the delivery at the birthing center.
Aunt Sarah has been at the center for more than 12 years and is currently studying to be a midwife.
Grace said she and her husband were told that she needed to be induced Wednesday morning due to some medical issues.
“We didn’t know how long it would take,” she said in an interview from the hospital Friday. Surprisingly, the CRH birthing center wasn’t very busy over New Year’s, with the couple saying that “basically, it’s really just been us” except for perhaps one other family.
Grace said it was very emotional to have her sister assist in Lola’s birth as the couple did not know they were going to have the baby on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.
“It was a very happy surprise,” she said.
Blake and Grace James pose for a photo with their newborn daughter Lola Kay Marie James and Grace’s sister Sarah Hudson in their room at Birthing Center inside Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. Lola James was the first baby born in Bartholomew County in 2026. Hudson, a registered nurse in the birthing center, helped deliver her niece.
Hudson described assisting in Lola’s arrival as a “huge blessing,” to get to be with her baby sister and to help her deliver her first baby on the holiday. “For her (Lola) to be the first baby of the year was just a lot of fun,” she said.
When asked what it was like to enter the exclusive “Girl Dad” club, Blake James said, “I wanted a girl, so I’m over the moon.”
For more photos, see Saturday’s Republic.
