If her first day is any indication, Zoe Rae Samora is going to be an early bird.
The newborn was born 11 days before her due date in the morning of Jan. 3, making her the first baby born at Central Peninsula Hospital in 2018.
“It was really exciting,” said Zoe’s mother, Chelsea Samora. “We were surprised, too, because it’s the third. We were surprised that nobody else had had a baby yet.”
Zoe was born at six pounds and .08 of an ounce, according to her father, Derek Samora.
“Everything went really good. … And she’s not due until the 14th,” said Chelsea while holding her newborn daughter in her arms and pulling her 20-month-old daughter up onto her bed alongside her. “Is that Zoe, is that your baby sister?”
Zoe’s older sister, Olivia, smiled at the newest addition to her family.
“She’s just like ‘this is so cool,’” said Zoe and Olivia’s grandmother Geri Habighorst. She said the entire family is excited to welcome the newest addition, including fellow grandparents Mark Habighorst and Paul and Becky Samora of Texas.
“It’s just so great to see the whole family and how excited Olivia is to be a sister,” Geri said.
It’s not unusual for the first baby of the new year to be a few days after Jan. 1, said the hospital’s marketing manager Camille Sorensen.
“Last year, there were a bunch born just before the New Year so it took a day or so for another to be born after midnight,” she said.
Chelsea said she had a quick delivery, with no unexpected surprises.
Reach Kat Sorensen at kat.sorensen@peninsulaclarion.com.
Chelsea Samora holds daughter Zoe Central Peninsula Hosptial’s first baby of the New Year born on Jan. 3, 2018, while Zoe’s sister, Olivia, and father, Derek, sit alongside them. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
