Published: January 07, 2009 10:53 am      

First in 2009

Couple excited about new addition

Just one day after the New Years ball dropped another kind of celebration was just beginning at 4:45 p.m. on Jan. 2 . It was the celebration of a new life and of McAlester’s first baby of the year.

The first baby born in 2009 at the McAlester Regional Health Center was Jazmine Amber-Lynn Prieto, daughter of Courtney and Frank Prieto. Jazmine weighed 7 pounds and 13 ounces. She was 20 and a half inches long.

It’s the first child for Courtney and Frank Prieto; the sixth grandchild for paternal grandparents Frank and Esther Prieto, of Oklahoma City, and the second grandchild to maternal grandparents Gloria Long, of Warner, and Kenneth Tadlock, of McAlester.

A memorable moment occurred in the labor and delivery unit at the hospital — the amount of attention that the nurses gave Courtney and their excitement about being present for the first baby of the new year. It helped make the experience even more enjoyable and relaxing for her. After the birth, the parents were presented with a complimentary gift basket from MRHC.

Prieto said the couple are looking forward to the days ahead with their bundle of joy. Finally calmed from all of the excitement, the mother said that baby Jazmine is doing well. She also said that she had expected being a first-time mom would be very stressful but ended up instead being a great experience and not as stressful, as she thought.