The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
FIRST BABY OF THE YEAR
Iyla Harlin Pietrafesa arrives 7 days early
TORRINGTON — Daniel and Erica Pietrafesa had a particularly joyful start to 2018, welcoming their second daughter into the world just after midnight on Tuesday — the first child born at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in the new year.
Iyla Harlin Pietrafesa was due Jan. 9, but it became clear Tuesday evening she was eager to get here.
Erica said she started having contractions, and it soon became clear what the couple needed to do.
“I started to get nervous, because I knew this baby was coming. I actually delivered one while at work, and I’ve done one through dispatch — I saw all the signs,” said Daniel Pietrafesa, an officer with the Winchester Police Department.
After Erica’s mother arrived to watch their eldest daughter, Freya, they headed to Charlotte Hungerford. The delivery went smoothly and the staff has been wonderful, Erica said.
“We rushed right in, and she was born 35 minutes after we got here exactly. It wasn’t time to do anything but have her,” Erica Pietrafesa said.
“It went by like that,” Daniel Pietrafesa said.
Daniel and Erica Pietrafesa met at the Laurel Hill Healthcare at Highland Lake in Winsted, where she worked, they said.
They got to know each other over time — the department often goes to the nursing home for ambulance calls and the like, Daniel Pietrafesa said.
He said he would walk by her office on purpose, to see if she was around — and bother her while she was working, Erica Pietrafesa said. The two hit it off.
“He was just very charming,” Erica Pietrafesa said. “Very charming, very nice, very pleasant to be
around. We just had fun together.”
They were married in 2014, and welcomed Freya on Nov. 4, 2016. Iyla’s middle name, Harlin, is tied to their wedding, Erica said — the two were married on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, wearing jeans, sunglasses and black T-shirts.
This was a particularly memorable way to start a year, the couple said.
“No more painful or happy of a (way to start) a year. This is amazing; it’s wonderful,” Erica Pietrafesa said. “I don’t think we’ll ever have another one to top this. We’re very excited — very excited for our family.”