Baby New Year
Published 9:13 am Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Kristine Rincon and James DeHoyas Sr. hold their new baby James DeHoyas Jr. on Tuesday at Naeve Hospital. Baby James was born just after 5 a.m. Monday and was the first baby to be born in Albert Lea in 2011. -- Sarah Stultz/Albert Lea Tribune
One Albert Lea couple received the ultimate New Year’s present on Monday at Naeve Hospital with the birth of a son, James DeHoyas Jr.
Baby New Year James DeHoyas Jr. was born at 5:19 a.m. Monday. He weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. -- Sarah Stultz/Albert Lea Tribune
Named after his father, little James is Albert Lea’s Baby New Year for 2011 and weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces at his birth.
Parents Kristine Rincon and James DeHoyas Sr. said baby James was born more than a week after his due date of Dec. 24.
Rincon was scheduled to be induced at 7 a.m. Monday morning but went into labor at 3 a.m. instead.
They arrived at the hospital at about 3:30 a.m., and Rincon was already dilated to about eight centimeters. At one point, she almost had to have an emergency Cesarean section, but ultimately baby James was born naturally at 5:19 a.m. by obstetrician Stephanie Nainani.
“I guess he heard operating room and he went, ‘Bam!’” his father said.
Because of how quickly the childbirth progressed, it was too late for their doctor, Joseph Lombardi, to make it to the hospital in time.
Parents Kristine Rincon and James DeHoyas Sr. smile at their newborn baby James DeHoyas Jr. on Tuesday in their room in The Baby Place at Naeve Hospital. -- Sarah Stultz/Albert Lea Tribune
This is the couple’s first baby together but Rincon’s sixth child.
They said they were excited and surprised to find out that their baby was Albert Lea’s Baby New Year. They just moved to Albert Lea from Texas three weeks ago.
They received a bouquet of flowers with a balloon and a gift basket full of items for the new baby from The Baby Place, Naeve Hospital’s maternity ward on the third floor.
“We said he was going to wait until the New Year to come out, and he did,” Rincon said. “We’ve just been waiting every single day since the due date.”
Because of all the excitement, James DeHoyas Sr. said he has created a whole Facebook profile to show pictures of his son, with the help of some of The Baby Place nurses. Prior to this, he had never been on Facebook.
The couple said so far, baby James has been a good baby who snores like his dad and chews on his hand.
“I think he’s going to have his dad’s personality all the way,” Rincon said.
He was 20 1/2 inches long at birth and has dark brown hair and greenish-brown eyes.
He was born a mere 21 minutes prior to the runner-up for Baby New Year.
The proud parents and their new baby were scheduled to go home today.
Baby New Year stats:
Name: James DeHoyas Jr.
Born: Jan. 3, 2011
Time: 5:19 a.m.
Weight: 7 pounds 15 ounces
Length: 20 1/2 inches
Hair color: dark brown
Eye color: greenish-brown
Hometown: Albert Lea
Family: mom, Kristine Rincon, father James DeHoyas Sr., five siblings
