It wasn’t until 7:09 a.m. on Monday that Powell Valley Healthcare welcomed its first baby of the new year, Luke Jackson Gabel of Meeteetse. He may be the first baby of 2025 but he’s not the first in his family's history to make a New Year’s entrance.

Luke, the first child of Eddie and Kristi Gabel and grandson to Kelley Reuer and Todd Reuer (deceased) and Jack and Lisa Gabel, takes over the mantle of New Year’s baby from his maternal great grandfather who was born “as the bells were ringing” but before much was made of being the first baby of the year, Kristi said. 

A few days behind his great-grandpa and weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces, Luke, named after Kristi’s favorite Gospel and the Star Wars character, was awake and taking in the world (and discovering his hands) Tuesday morning.

“We wanted something, you know, simple and spell-able … Luke's my favorite Gospel,” Kristi said of her first born’s name adding, “And then the second thought is, Luke Skywalker.”

Fantasy and sci-fi novels were something they shared early on in their relationship, Eddie chimed in.

Luke’s middle name is shared with his dad who was named after his father Jack; If Luke had been a girl he would have inherited Kristi’s middle name.

“I'm bringing my middle name down to our first son, because my dad's name is Jack Edward Gabel. My name's Edward Jackson Gabel, so just keeping it going a little bit,” Eddie said.

Their parents live out of state but they do have a support system here and many friends with babies whose experience they can draw from, Eddie said.

“We've got a really good support system, family and friends, thankfully most of our friends already had kids, so we got a pretty big knowledge pool that we can dip into,” Eddie said.

Once they get home they’re mostly looking forward to experiencing being a family, taking care of Luke and growing with him, Eddie said.

Kristi added she’s excited to, “learn from him and all he’ll teach us.”

Birth and parenting is a new experience for Eddie and Kristi, who acknowledged the quality of staff who cared for them at Powell Valley Healthcare. Certified Nurse Midwife Ashley Engesser, RN Sarah VanNattan and most others involved in Luke’s delivery stopped by to visit after the delivery.

“It's been amazing, especially feeling, you know, safe and heard through the whole thing, especially a foreign thing such as this,” Eddie said adding, “Everyone was just super, super kind.”