Samaritan celebrates first baby of new year
Efrain and Alm Escobedo sit with their new baby boy, Efrain, who was the first baby born in the new year at Samaritan Hospital.
MOSES LAKE - Efrain Escobedo was the first baby this year to be welcomed into the world at Moses Lake's Samaritan Hospital.
Born at 12:57 a.m. Jan. 1, the son of Alma and Efrain Escobedo Sr. weighed seven pounds, five ounces and measured 18 inches long.
Dr. Bryan Tolley was the attending physician, according to Samaritan Hospital officials on Monday.
The Escobedos moved to Ephrata from Alabama three years ago and also have a daughter, Stephanie, and a son, Christopher. This isn't the first time the couple has taken a trip to the maternity ward on the first of the year, they said, as Christopher was also born on New Year's Day.
Samaritan typically handles more than 1,000 births a year, according to Louise Olmsted, director of the hospital's Mother-Baby Unit.
"We are a very busy unit," Olmsted said. "People around the U.S. are always amazed how many (births) we do."
In 2010 the hospital handled 1,134 births, and in 2011 doctors there helped 1,074 new humans be born.
Olmsted said the hospital usually sees at least one birth on the first day of the year, and New Year's week as a whole is typically busy. Nineteen babies were born in the first week of last year, 13 in 2010 and 25 the first week of 2009.
The hospital traditionally passes on a little extra love to the first baby of the year, Olmsted said, giving the new parents a gift basket of baby goodies donated by community members.