‘Bennie’ Berg is county’s first baby of 2016

“It went well — 10 hours (labor) from start to finish,” Wendy said. “He’s perfect.”

Benjamin weighed seven pounds, five ounces and was 21 inches long at birth.

“Almost exactly the same as Olivia, who was seven pounds, three ounces and 21 inches,” Wendy said.

“She was our first miracle,” Wendy said of Olivia. “We learned we would have her on our 10th anniversary, we’ve now been married 22 years. Benjamin is our second miracle. Both our children are tremendous gifts to us.”

Wendy said that shortly after they were married they had been told she would not be able to conceive.

Learning about Olivia, “We were elated,” Tim said. “We couldn’t talk.”

Then came news of Benjamin.

“After all these years we were shocked, because we lost two babies, and when Olivia was six we just kind of gave up hope and felt content and thankful with our family, but when we heard he was on the way we were overjoyed,” Wendy said.

Grandparents are Greg and Sharon Berg of Gresham and Dennis and Roxanne Hale of Hood River. Dennis, a retired drywall installer, did some of that work on the Providence building, and Wendy’s sister, Rochelle Leighton, is finance officer at Providence.

The Bergs have lived in the Gorge for 15 years, and in Hood River for the last 10 years.

Tim owns Berg Home Services, a repair and remodeling company, and Wendy home-schools Olivia, a seventh-grader.

Benjamin is a name they chose years ago, and when they knew they would have a second child they knew in their hearts who he is. Andrew is also Tim’s middle name.

“We had researched names a long time,” explained Tim. “We had first thought about him … we were married a short time and I was on a bike ride in the woods, and we are believers in God and He told me we were going to have a son. This is long before Olivia came along, and nine years ago a man came up and told me, ‘I don’t know why but God is telling me you are going to have a son.’ We chose the name back then.”

Wendy said, “Over last the five years I’ve had very explicit dreams of a son, but I never understood it.

“When we found out we were pregnant again after all these years we knew it was Benjamin.”

Tim said that when their doctor asked if they wanted to know the baby’s gender, “We were tingling. After all these years we pretty much just knew it.”

As to the first baby honor, when Jan. 1 came and went they didn’t think about it.

“We did not know. His due date was Dec. 30, and we were hoping for the tax break, but then it was, ‘maybe the first,’ but by the third we didn’t suspect he would be. We were very surprised. We were excited.”

Whatever the arrival date, Olivia is happy.

“I like it. I always wanted a sibling,” said Olivia, who calls her brother Bennie.

“She wanted a sister, for a long time,” Tim said. “So I told her now she gets to be my only princess.”