SPECIAL DELIVERY: 1ST OF 2015
GARY — When Vanessa GalvanFernandez and her husband, Eric Fernandez, arrived Wednesday evening at Methodist Hospital’s Northlake Campus with contractions, she suspected she was close, but not that close.
By 12:54 a.m. Jan. 1, however, all 8 pounds, 9 ounces of little Evan Eric Fernandez had made his way into the world safe and sound. His arrival makes him the first baby of the new year in Lake County.
By Thursday afternoon, Evan was doing all the things perfectly healthy and happy babies do, Vanessa GalvanFernandez, of Gary, said. And she was doing just fine, too.
“He’s a good baby,” Vanessa said, the smile radiating in her voice. “He’s doing really well.”
The biggest of her three children in terms of birth weight, Evan joins two sisters, ages 4 and 2 in the family. Evan was also the quickest arrival of the three at just under three hours. The girls haven’t met their little brother yet, but they’re happy to have him in their clan, Vanessa Galvan-Fernandez said.
Even happier is Eric Fernandez, of whom Evan has “saved” from a world of sugar, spice and everything nice.
“My husband was in a house of all girls, so he’s excited to have his boy now,” Vanessa Galvan-Fernandez said.
Community Hospital in Munster had the second baby of the new year, while neither Franciscan St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond nor Franciscan Our Lady of Mercy in Dyer had any New Year’s babies. Porter Regional Hospital in Valparaiso, meanwhile, no longer publicizes its first baby of the year because of safety reasons.
“We’ve based this decision on guidance provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which has cautioned against these kinds of announcements because of the potential risk of abduction or identity theft,” said Karen Keltner, Porter Regional spokeswoman, said. “The birth of a baby is a joyous event, and we know there is always interest in the first baby of the new year, but our first obligation is to the safety and privacy of our patients, which is why we have made this decision.”