Bay Area’s first babies of 2021.
Bay Area’s earliest arrival is delivered in SF a mere six minutes into 2021
As Bay Area residents quietly ushered in the new year amid coronavirus restrictions on revelry, three mothers were in the last minutes of labor at two local hospitals as the clock struck midnight.
Just six minutes into 2021, Laura and Laszlo Ladi, 36 and 35 years old, respectively, welcomed their new son Jack at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, the first baby born in the Bay Area, according to a survey of area hospitals Friday.
“We’re obviously thrilled to start the year on such a high note,” Laszlo Ladi said. “When we came in, we thought there was a chance the delivery was going to be on New Year’s Eve, but it’s especially nice that it’s a fresh start after such a difficult 2020.”
Mother Laura Ladi said this is the best way to end a year she wanted to be over — being pregnant during the middle of a worldwide pandemic is not easy.
“Our dream was given to us in the first six minutes of 2021,” she said. “I think it’s just so happy and wonderful to have such a good story when times are tough.”
Four minutes after baby Jack was born, Christina Perez gave
birth to her son Legend Amaziah Holguin after nearly a whole day of labor at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose. Though all the nurses said he would come before the new year, father Daniel Holguin had predicted he would be a New Year’s baby.
“I was induced at 2 a.m. the night before and he just was so stubborn he didn’t want to be born until 2021,” Perez said in an interview. “Dad predicted it. They told us Jan. 7 was his delivery date, but he insisted he would be born New Year’s day. I don’t know how he knew, but it happened.”
Baby Legend was measured at 21 inches and 8 pounds, 15 ounces Friday.
It was a night to remember for Perez, she said, as the nurses and everyone stopped briefly to welcome the new year with hats and noisemakers.
“It was definitely something to remember,” she said.
Over in the East Bay, Antioch parents Alejandria Tomas and Daniel Hartzell welcomed their new Xander Tomas-Hartzell at 12:12 a.m. Friday at Kaiser Permanente Antioch Medical Center.
Tomas said she is “feeling very loved and blessed” Friday.
“He’s my first son, and it’s just been such an amazing feeling,” Tomas said. “It was a very, very smooth pregnancy until the labor and delivery, where it got complicated. But it was all worth it once you see that human being, that little boy there in front of you.”
Tomas didn’t expect any recognition for giving birth to one of the first babies in the Bay Area as doctors and nurses dashed around the hospital dealing with COVID-19 cases. But Tomas said she was pleasantly surprised to see a gift from the hospital Friday morning.
Baby Xander, she said, didn’t want anything to do with 2020. He was due Dec. 25, she said, but he was nine days delayed for a reason.
“I know that it’s been such a crazy year for a lot of people, and Dani and I have been really blessed this year,” Tomas said. “We have Xander now. We bought a new house in preparation for Xander, and we’ve been blessed with a new year. I’m hoping we can find a solution to COVID so that our children can start enjoying a normal life.”