Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital welcomed its first delivered baby of 2021 early Friday morning.
Emerson Jewett was born at 3:28 a.m. on New Year’s Day. She weighs 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and is the first-born of Valencia residents Anthony and Rebecca Jewett.
Wrapped in a white blanket with foliage watercolor imprints, the first-time parents snuggled up with their daughter at the hospital before cradling her for a noontime nap.
“It’s surreal. We weren’t expecting (Rebecca) to go into labor yesterday,” said Anthony, adding that the expected due date was not until Monday.
New Year’s Eve started off pretty routinely, according to the parents.
“It was a normal day working out at home, you know, you can’t do much especially with COVID and us self-quarantining at home,” said Anthony. “All of a sudden (Rebecca) says, ‘You know, I think I’m leaking a little.’”
That’s when the mother reached out to her friends who are parents and they suggested she contact the hospital.
“So we called, and the hospital was like, ‘Hey, you should probably come in.’ They did all the testing and it turns out her water technically broke around 10:30 a.m.”
Pregnancy amid the pandemic was challenging but having their daughter finally in their arms was a long time coming, said Anthony.
“We’re just blessed and ecstatic, especially being the first one and with 2020 coming to an end and then going into 2021. It’s like a fresh start,” he said.
The parents said they’re looking forward to all the “firsts of firsts,” such as “bringing her home, the first bath, her first sleep at the house — that’ll be cool,” said Anthony.
