Christine Merrill knows a lot about babies. She's had three of her own and has been helping deliver them for decades. So when she tells you about baby safety and style, you listen.
"The first couple of days you need to keep a hat on your baby's head and they might as well look cute while they're staying warm," said Merrill.
That sentiment inspired a special holiday tradition at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake. In October, every newborn baby receives a hand-crocheted pumpkin hat. In December, babies go home in bright red Santa hat with a little white pom pom.
Merrill said the tradition began about a decade ago. "I worked the night shift then and I needed something to do, I needed a hobby, and I taught myself," Merrill explained. "I think I got Kelly into it and taught her how to do it, too."
Kelly Peckham is the triage nurse at Adirondack Medical Center and a mother of two. "Christine crocheted my daughter's first hat, actually," said Peckham. "I still have it."
It takes Merrill and Peckham about 40 minutes to make each hat. Other people also donate their crocheted creations from time to time. All that work happens outside the hospital since the obstetrics unit stays busy.
So far this year, more than 220 babies have been born in the small town of Saranac Lake. That's up 34% from a decade ago. The uptick isn't due to a baby boom in the TriLakes. Rather, as Peckham explains, mothers around the region now have fewer places to give birth.
"A lot of hospitals around us are closing their maternity departments," Peckham explained, including in Massena and Malone. "We already are so sparse in the North Country, that people are driving an hour or more to come to us to deliver a baby."
As Peckham worked the front desk, Merrill offered a tour of Adirondack Medical Center's maternity unit. There's a bulletin board of baby pictures in the hallway. Both labor rooms were full, so Merrill pointed out the birthing suites and surgical rooms.
"The next two rooms have labor tubs in them," Merrill said. "While they're laboring, people can get in the jacuzzi tub. It helps with pain management. Then in the back, we have our c-section rooms. We do our c-sections right on the floor and this is just for c-sections, they don't do any other surgeries in here, so the babies can stay right with their moms the whole time."
Merrill has worked at Adirondack Medical Center for 26 years. She grew up in Malone and has always loved babies, always knew she'd be a nurse someday
"My mom was a nurse, so I went to school with the thought that I was going to be an OB nurse."
Kelly Peckham had a similar path to obstetrics, having been drawn to nursing since she was a kid in Saranac Lake.
"My friend's mom was a labor and delivery nurse- she recently retired from here, but she's now my mother-in-law, too. I grew up around that and I just said, I'm going to work in L&D one day and I do."
Peckham has been a labor and delivery nurse for a decade. She loves the chaos of it all and the work never gets old. "When that baby comes out, is crying, goes onto mom's chest, it's exciting every time for sure," said Peckham.
Not every birth goes as planned, not every visit here is a happy one. But Peckham and Merrill say they can't imagine working any other job. They love what they do.
That's why they put so much time and effort into little pumpkin and Santa hats for newborns.
"The moms and dads, they love it," said Merrill. "We see them around town. We go into Aldis and go grocery shopping and we see little bats with the hats on and it's like, 'ohh.'"
A few times over the last decade, Merrill has crocheted a special hat for any baby born on New Year's Day. Both she and Peckham are brainstorming new flower hats for babies born in the spring