The first 2022 baby born at a hospital on the Palouse almost broke family tradition.

Gideon Fletcher was born at 7:46 p.m. New Year’s Day at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow to parents Emily and Robert Fletcher. Gideon was 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 21.5 inches long.

Robert Fletcher, of Moscow, said his five other children were also born in even years. They waited to see if Gideon, who was born past his due date, would continue that pattern.

“We were wondering if he was gonna be in 2021,” Robert Fletcher said.

Robert Fletcher said the day started when the Fletchers went to Gritman for an induction at 7 a.m. and the evening delivery was relatively uneventful.

It capped an already busy few months for the Fletchers as Robert Fletcher went back to school this past fall to study forestry at the University of Idaho. Now, their new year has kicked off with a new addition to their family and a special designation for baby Gideon.

“It’s kind of fun,” he said.

In the quad-cities region, the first baby to be born in a hospital in 2022 was Kyser Bye. He was born at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston to Brycen and Sherilyn Bye.

Bye was born at 1:22 p.m. on the first day of the first month of 2022 — or 1:22 p.m., 1-1-22.

“It was exciting, because this was actually his due date, so we kind of thought it’d be fun to have a New Year’s baby and it happened the way we thought it could,” said father Brycen Bye, who coaches football and teaches math at Clarkston High School.

Kyser’s mother, Sherilyn, said she’s particularly excited to introduce him to his 1½-year-old brother, Bentson. While Bentson knew there was a baby in mommy’s belly, Sharilyn said it is unclear how well he understood that their small family would soon grow by one. Nonetheless, she said he will make a fantastic big brother.

“It’s going to be super fun to have two boys to raise together — two brothers. So we’re really excited about that,” she said.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com. Reporting from Scott Jackson was included in this report. He can be reached at sjackson@dnews.com.