Sierra View Medical Center Welcomes the New Year and New Life

Ringing in the new year is a little sweeter if you’re on the fourth floor of Sierra View Medical Center celebrating the first baby of 2021. Nicole Gonzalez and Paulino Gonzalez of Porterville, CA are the proud parents of the precious “New Year’s Baby” named Aviana Gonzalez.

The facility’s first baby of 2021 was delivered this morning at 5:11 a.m. with the help of the midwife and later in postpartum, Ann Barnes, RN of SVMC’s Maternal Child Health Department cared for baby and mother. Baby Gonzales weighed in at 6 pounds and 15.5 ounces and was 19 inches long. This baby girl came into the world a week before her original due date and approximately an hour before the second baby born at SVMC. The team working on New Year’s Eve and New Year's Day kept the two mothers informed when they would curiously ask as to whom might deliver first. 

Aviana is a little sister to the couple’s first daughter who is two years old. “We can’t wait for Olivia to meet her; we just ‘facetimed’ with her and she got to see her for the first time,” Nicole Gonzalez said as sheer joy could be seen in her eyes. Their first born was staying with Paulina’s parents who were also awaiting to meet the new addition in person.

There's no denying 2020 has been an extraordinarily difficult year, but when stepping into the postpartum room of the "New Year's Baby" at SVMC, that was certainly not the focus. With a backdrop of the trees and mountains that could be seen from the couples’ room as the sun was shining on this cold winter day, the special occasion on January 1, 2021, marking a new beginning for the Gonzalez family couldn’t go unnoticed as the proud parents were glowing beneath their face coverings.

The hospital presented the parents with a special gift basket filled with newborn swaddles, mittens, pajamas, a nursing and car seat cover, burp clothes, hats, diapers, and a little something for the parents: a SVMC travel mug, a tumbler cup and lip balm.

The first baby born of the year is always exciting at the SVMC birth center and a tradition to celebrate and announce to the community. After celebrating a new year like never before, the Gonzalez family is excited to take their healthy and happy brand-new baby home on January 2, and introduce her to their eagerly awaiting immediate family.