By Toni Garrard Clay
On New Year’s Eve night, Amber Baker and her partner, Ryan Miller, sat around a bonfire with family to see the new year in. They turned in around 2 a.m., and when Amber woke the next morning, she realized she was in labor.
“They had been saying the night before, ‘You’re gonna have this baby.’ And I said, ‘No, no, no.’ Then it happened.”
Though she wasn’t due until Jan. 15, Emma Marie Miller was the first baby born at ETMC Athens in 2014. She arrived at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 1, weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 20-and-a-half inches long.
“She’s a pretty baby,” said Amber only a few hours after the delivery. Emma is her first child. “It happened so fast, I haven’t really wrapped my head around it.”
“We went to bed at 2 last night, and about 12 hours later had a baby,” Ryan said. Judging by the smile on his face though, the early arrival of Baby Emma is a fully happy surprise.
Amber chose to have the baby at ETMC Athens under the care of Dr. Mark Eldore, although they live in Kaufman County. “The nurses here are very nice,” she said. “They took good care of me and made me feel very calm.”
Amber and Ryan both said they had not given any particular thought to having a New Year’s Day baby during their hour-long drive to the hospital. “Then they wheeled me in here and said, ‘You’re going to have the first baby.’ It didn’t occur to us before then. Our goal was to get here and get an epidural.”
No one said looking after a baby was easy. Parents shouldn’t feel like they have to go through this on their own. With the assistance of family, friends and even sites like Mommyhood101 where people can get advice and tips on taking care of kids, we can all do with a helping hand once in a while. But with Amber having given birth of the first baby of 2014 at ETMC Athens, the hospital, OB staff and members of Lakeland Medical Associates joined together in giving several gifts, including a diaper pail and bag; a lullaby crib projector; diapers of various sizes; baby wipes, lotion and soaps; blankets, clothes and caps; bottles, pacifiers and a fruit basket. Amber’s family presented on of the best baby bouncers they could found.