Just minutes after the New Year’s countdown and ball drop, Maine’s first baby of 2019 arrived in Aroostook County.
Named Karly, the baby was born at 12:09 a.m. to Danielle Doyle and Kyle Williams of Houlton at Northern Light AR Gould Hospital in Presque Isle. Weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce, the baby has received a “clean bill of health,” according to Doyle, who is also doing well.
Though the baby’s due date was Jan. 1, the family didn’t anticipate she would be the first baby born in Maine in the new year.
“I assumed she was either going to be late or come a couple days early,” Doyle said in a phone interview. “It didn’t once cross my mind that she’d actually be the first baby born in the new year … It’s a little overwhelming, but it is what it is. It’s nice. It doesn’t happen every day.”
Doyle was driven to the hospital as soon as her water broke, arriving at 5:30 p.m. Monday, well before the winter storm that swept through the area that night and dumped several inches of snow. There she received the support of Williams as well as her mother, Donna Barton, and longtime friends Claudette and Danica Welton.
“They were rooting for me really hard,” Doyle said. “I don’t know what I would have done if they weren’t there for support.”
Karly is the fourth child in this blended family, joining older siblings Blake, 6, Harmonee, 5, and Maliya, nearly 2. All have expressed excitement at having a new baby sister.
“[Blake] was so excited when we were getting ready to go to the hospital. He slipped some Slim Jims in my pocket to help take care of me,” Doyle said.
Blake, who is deaf and communicates with sign language, also took it upon himself to explain the situation to his siblings.
“He was signing to his other baby sister all about how Mommy was having a baby and not to worry because she was going to be OK,” Doyle said.
Doyle is a certified nursing assistant at Madigan Estates in Houlton, while Kyle
spends his week working in the woods in the Allagash before heading home to Houlton for the weekend.
Having the first baby of the new year is something of a competition to delivery-room personnel at Maine hospitals.
Close on Karly’s heels, Maine’s second baby of the year, Lev, was born at 12:21 a.m. to Anna and Jarlath McGuckin of Portland at Maine Medical Center’s Family Birth Center in Portland. Both mother and baby are in good health, according to MMC.
A few other Maine babies were born in the wee hours of the morning on New Year’s Day, including Bristol, who was born at 3:40 a.m. to Larissa and Jason of Rumford, at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington. The family wishes to keep their last name private. And just a few minutes later, Layla was born at 3:44 a.m. to Rebecca and Chris White of Dixmont at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.