New babies mark start of 2021, and one family ended up 2020 in an unforgettable way
One Stanislaus County family greeted 2021 with the birth of a new baby just after midnight, while another family exited 2020 with the birth of four babies.
The unofficial first baby of the new year for Stanislaus County was born at 12:01 a.m. at Kaiser Medical Center Modesto, hospital spokeswoman Chyresse Hill confirmed via text Friday morning.
Elias Portillo, Jr. was born to Marysol Leyva and Elias Portillo, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces and measuring 19.46 inches, according to an email sent Saturday from Hill.
Elias is the first baby for the family and mother and baby were doing well, according to Hill.
Two hours later, Doctors Medical Center in Modesto recorded its first baby at 2:21 a.m., spokeswoman Krista Deans said via text. The hospital’s first birth of the year was a boy born to Alondra and Jorge – identified only by their first names – of Patterson. Leonel weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and measured 19.6 inches long, Dean said in an email Friday afternoon..
Turlock’s Emanuel Medical Center had a baby girl delivered at 9:23 a.m., Deans said.
Memorial Medical Center in Modesto did not report any deliveries or women in labor, spokeswoman Liz Madison said. Staff at Oak Valley Hospital in Oakdale could not be reached.
Staff at Doctors closed out 2020 with an “exciting day”, Deans said in a news release. A Denair couple, identified only by their first names — Tania and Rene — delivered quadruplets. The babies, all boys, were born two minutes apart from one another Thursday afternoon.
“Our team was prepared and overjoyed to deliver the babies. All four babies are healthy and doing well,” Deans said. “They are receiving specialized care from our NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) team until they are ready to go home.”
Quadruple births are rare, with only 115 reported in the United States 2018, the latest year for which statistics are available, according to the Center for Disease Control.
“Many of our staff members had never been involved with delivering quadruplets,” Deans said in an email message Friday afternoon. “One of our respiratory therapists stated he remembered a quadruplets delivery, but it was more than 20 years ago.”
To prepare, labor and delivery and NICU staff held several planning meetings and walked through scenarios.
“...as a result of the preparation, the deliveries were like clockwork,” Deans said. “This was such a special delivery, especially being on New Year’s Eve, and a beautiful way to end the year.”
This story was originally published January 1, 2021 at 12:23 PM.
