City welcomes its first babies of 2024 — all girls
‘This is the year of the girls!’ MARGARITA GARI VEGA, whose daughter, Selena Margarita Rosa, was among three girls born as the clock struck midnight to usher in 2024
As the clock struck midnight, three baby girls were born at two Boston hospitals, marking a joyful start to 2024 for their families.
Emily Margaret, weighing 7 pounds, 15 ounces, arrived in the new year to her parents, Eileen and Andrew DeRoma of Canton, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Emily Margaret is a new little sister for 4-year-old Haylee and 3-year-old Kelsey, the hospital said.
At the same minute, Min Li and Huaien Wang of Quincy became new parents with the birth of their first child, Ophelia, weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces, also at Beth Israel.
Meanwhile, down the road at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Selena Margarita Rosa, was also born at midnight, weighing in at 6 pounds and 5 ounces.
She’s the first child for Margarita Gari Vega and Roberto Rosa Jr. of Dorchester.
Their daughter wasn’t due until Tuesday. But after Margarita hadn’t felt her move in two days, she checked into the hospital on Saturday on her doctor’s advice, she said.
About 27 hours later, Vega delivered a healthy daughter.
“She is our little miracle baby,” she said in a phone interview Monday.
Vega, 28, a pharmacy technician for CVS, and Rosa, 26, who works for Amazon, both grew up in Boston and met about two years ago. It had been a difficult few years for Rosa, who said he lost his grandfather to cancer in 2020 and his cousin in 2022. His mother also passed away in 2022, about a week after his birthday.
Vega gave him the strength to push forward, he said.
“She made my life amazing,” he said. “She gave me more meaning to life . ... I tell myself, I’m not going to look back. I’m just going to do better
and I’m going to take care of my family.”
Vega said Rosa was by her side every day since the couple learned they would be parents.
“Everybody needs a partner, because I could not have done this without him,” she said.
For these first-time parents, it was hard to put into words the emotions they felt once Selena was in their arms. Rosa, for one, said the experience of witnessing his daughter’s birth has given him a “whole new appreciation for women, a whole other level of respect.”
“God bless every woman that’s doing this because it’s not easy,” he said.
“Physically, mentally, everything,” Vega added.
Vega and Rosa said the hospital told them that their daughter was the hospital’s first baby of 2024. They took a picture with Selena, who was swaddled with a pink bow on her head.
Later on Monday morning, one of Rosa’s co-workers called and said he saw him on the news. That was when they learned about the births of Emily Margaret and Ophelia, with whom they are happy to share the title of Boston’s first baby of 2024.
“God bless those women, too,” Vega said. “Bless their hearts, and bless their bodies.”
With three girls born all at once to ring in 2024 in Boston, Vega thinks it’s a sign for the year ahead.
“This is the year of the girls!” she proclaimed.