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New Year's Babies
A couple from Mountain Home Air Force Base ushered in the new year with the birth of their daughter, becoming the first family in Elmore County to deliver a child in 2010.
They beat a Mountain Home family by about 23 minutes for the honor of the first child born in the county.
Hailey Jade Mauldin, the daughter of Jessie and Senior Airman Kendra Mauldin, arrived at 3:53 a.m. Weighing in at 6 pounds, 1 ounce and measuring 21 inches in length, Hailey was the Mauldin's first child.
With an original due date of Dec. 23, the Mauldins had no idea their daughter would actually arrive on New Year's Day.
"We were kind of shooting for it as the time got closer," said Kendra, a paralegal with the 366th Fighter Wing Legal Office. "We actually wanted to wait until Jan. 4 when my doctor got back, but that just didn't happen."
Base doctors opted to induce the delivery because the baby was almost too big to deliver naturally. As time ticked by, realization of giving birth to the year's first baby set in.
"Right away, we got really excited. Even the doctor got excited," Jessie said. "We were really trying for just after midnight (to give birth)."
Jessie recently separated from the Air Force after eight years in military vehicle operations. The timing of his daughter's arrival was nearly perfect, he said.
"Our plans were made for us," said Jessie, who agreed early in his wife's pregnancy to provide at-home care for their child.
The birth on base came just 23 minutes before the city of Mountain Home welcomed its first baby following the birth of Robert Owen Weston. The son of Scott and Heather Weston, Robert arrived at 4:16 a.m. and weighed in at 6 pounds, 5.9 ounces.
Dr. Karl Olson delivered the Westons' first child at Elmore Medical Center after Heather endured 20 hours of labor.
Looking back, the couple never expected to become the city's first new family of 2010, according to Heather.
"He wasn't even due for another two weeks," she said. "It just kind of happened that way, but it's kind of cool actually."
The Weston family live in Mountain Home where Heather works at the local Arby's restaurant. Scott continues to finish work on his degree in computer programming.
As the city's first parents of the year, the Weston family received a gift basket donated by Emotion Photography. The basket included a new outfit for the baby and a gift certificate for free baby photos and a picture frame from Jill Davidson's business in Mountain Home. In addition, Elmore Medical Center presented the Westons with a diaper bag filled with baby supplies and samples.
Meanwhile, the Airman's Attic staff on base provided the Mauldin family with an assortment of gifts, including a quilt created by local volunteers as part of the base's Hammond Baby Bundles program. The homemade blankets and other goodies for newborns are created in honor of Airman 1st Class Walter Hammond, a member of the 366th Civil Engineer Squadron who died in 2004.
During his time at Mountain Home, Hammond volunteered his time at the Gunfighter Attic. He had a soft spot in his heart for babies. Following his death, base volunteers came together and decided they would continue his love of children and volunteering by sewing quilts and packaging them with other homemade gifts.