The best stocking stuffer ever

by Marlo Benning
marlo@inhnews.com

Six-year-old Cayden Dittberner had some sort of premonition of when his new baby sister was going to arrive on this earth.
While his mom Becca’s due date was pinpointed for January 2, a full week after Christmas Day, Cayden was adamant that that would be the day he was going to get to meet her.
So, when Becca’s water broke at about 3 p.m. on Christmas afternoon while eating lunch at her in-laws, she wasn’t too surprised. And, when her doctor, Bobbi Adams, arrived at the hospital to see her, her words were “I knew we’d see you, because Cayden said!”, Becca shared during a recent interview.
“She almost missed Christmas though by about 40 minutes. She was born at 11:18,” Becca said, noting that if it would have been after midnight, she would have shared her birthday with her grandpa which also would have been special.
For Cayden it was nice because he was able to experience both a typical Christmas morning, where he opened some gifts and probably found something fun in his stocking, and still see his wish come true.
For his parents, Becca and Justin of rural Bertha, it was also ideal as they had been on the go the day before jumping from house to house to share in holiday gatherings at various family members’ homes. Most of their celebrating had been done and they were having a more mellow day relaxing with Cayden and Justin’s family.
While Cayden stayed behind with grandparents John and Rhonda Dittberner, Becca and Justin made a pit stop at home so she could change and pick up her mom, Carla Leehy, and sister Erika Leehy on the way to the hospital. Carla and Erika would later share in the moment that little Tori Kay entered the world outside of the womb.
“I was excited and happy. I knew they couldn’t send me home [because her water had broke],” she said.
When Tori was born just over eight hours after her mom began labor, she was the second baby born at Tri-County Hospital in Wadena on the special day. Coincidentally, that baby was also due on January 2, said Becca.
Comments that the couple have heard from others about her blessed birth date have been: “How are you going to do her birthday? What a Christmas blessing that is! You should have named her Christmas. That is so cool!”.
Cayden is pretty tickled pink over his new sibling and has lots to say on the subject!
“He was so excited at “show and tell” to share pictures at school of her. He’s very protective, and told me, ‘Mom, if anyone picks on my little sister, I’ll have to smack them in the face. But, I won’t really do that. I’ll just tell them that so they’ll be scared,” said Becca.
The timing of Tori’s birth, named lovingly after Becca’s grandma’s middle name of Victoria, was ideal said Becca as Justin was home and Cayden was on break from school. It also gave her time to focus on Tori before beginning online courses through M-State in Wadena this January.
Tori was part of the equation in a total of 11 births at Tri-County during Christmas week, December 18 through 25.
Celebrating Jesus’ birthday is always a special event, but now the Dittberner family has yet another very important reason to rejoice—their beautiful baby girl, Tori Kay.


Photo: Becca and Justin Dittberner of Bertha admiring their Christmas baby—Tori Kay.