CONWAY-(Jan. 4, 2021)- Kellye and Alex Holzhauer of Conway received a New Year’s Day surprise when their first baby, Nolan Henry, arrived 11 days early.

Nolan Henry Holzhauer was born at 3:27 pm on New Year’s Day. He weighed eight pounds and five ounces and was 20 ½ inches in length at birth. “He decided, hey, 2020’s over I’ll make my appearance now,” said Kellye. Nolan Henry was the first baby of 2021 born at the Conway Regional Women’s Center. He is the couple’s first child.

“He told Kellye that he was on his way right at bedtime on Thursday night (New Year’s Eve). We arrived here at the women’s center about 2:00 am,” added Alex. Kellye said, “I sent a text to my mom early that morning letting her know that Nolan Henry was on the way.” Alex added, “My phone’s still exploding.”

The couple relied heavily on the expertise of Laura Bennett, RN, their labor nurse, and Courtney Sick, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist and delivering physician, during the three-hour labor. Kellye’s obstetrician-gynecologist is Michael Wood, MD. Wood and Sick, along with Kala Slaton, MD, practice at the Conway Regional Renaissance Women’s Center.

“Our delivery nurse, Laura, was absolutely incredible; she helped coach us through the whole process and she was with us for about three hours,” said Alex. “I just cannot believe how hard and how diligently they take care of people here. The nurses are spectacular. I’m totally blown away.” A tired Kellye agreed, adding “Dr. Sick did a fantastic job during the delivery.”

The Holzhauers’ long-awaited pregnancy began a month after the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to work from home.

“When we started working from home, we turned one of the rooms into an office space. A month later, we found out that we needed to turn that space into a nursery,” explained Alex.  Kellye added, “We’ve been on strict lock down. It’s been hard not to be able to really see people or shop for him.”

Kellye and Alex Holzhauer have lived in Conway for about 10 years, where both work at Acxiom. Alex is a solutions developer and Kellye is a talent development specialist. The two met at the University of Central Arkansas through mutual friends. Alex’s degree is in Management Information Systems and Kellye has a degree in Computer Science.

Their next step together is the learning process that comes with a first baby. “We are just so happy to have him. We have been looking forward to him for so long,” added Kellye.