JoAnn Alumbaugh and Gabe Schuler welcomed FaithAnn Hope Schuler into their lives Jan. 4, 2017 and vowed to stay clean and sober for her.

FaithAnn is the first baby born in Jefferson County in 2017. She arrived at 2:38 a.m., Jan. 4 at Jefferson Healthcare hospital in Port Townsend. She weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and was 19 inches in length. Dr. Stephen Erickson attended the birth.

The child represents much more than being the county’s first baby of the new year.

“It’s time to break the chain,” said mom JoAnn, who has been drug free and alcohol free for two years. “I honestly feel that if I hadn’t been in recovery, I wouldn’t be here today,” she said, holding FaithAnn.

“We never lost faith and we never gave up hope,” she said of naming her daughter in honor of her and Alumbaugh’s journey together.

“She will never have to see us loaded,” pledged Schuler.

Alumbaugh, 25, who grew up in Quilcene, and Schuler, 35, of Port Townsend, said they met while in recovery with Narcotics Anonymous (NA).

Schuler said he would first stay clean and sober for himself, but “after that, it’s all about her,” he said of the newborn, who was swaddled in pink pajamas.

Using an app on his cell phone, Schuler noted that FaithAnn was born on his six-month anniversary of staying clean and sober.

Grandparents are Rick and Ginny Beard of Quilcene and Traci Schuler of Port Townsend. Rick Beard said he was proud of daughter JoAnn for her work. Last summer in The Leader, Alumbaugh had shared an essay she wrote crediting her parents for their loving support throughout her life, and Jefferson County Mental Health Court for giving her a second chance at life.

In honor of their baby being the first born at Jefferson Healthcare’s Family Birth Center in 2017, the couple received a basket of goodies collected by nurses, including a handknit sweater, blankets, shoes, a mobile and toys.

The first baby of 2017 on the North Olympic Peninsula was born Jan. 1 at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles.