Colorado parents caught off guard by surprise arrival of 2023's first baby
The presumed first baby born in 2023 in Colorado was not expected to be a part of the race.
Jimena, the daughter of Jessica Alvarez and Eduardo Jimenez from Aurora, came into the world more than a month early.
"We never thought she would be born in January, let alone right at the beginning of 2023. It was a big surprise," said Jessica Alvarez.
The 4-pound, 4-ounce baby was born at 12:07 a.m. Sunday. She is the couple's first child and was delivered at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.
CBS News Colorado has not been made aware of a baby born in the state closer to the start of the New Year.
But make no mistake, there was competition.
Kai Miles Thorne, weighing at 7 pounds, 11 ounces, was born at 12:29 a.m. to parents Amanda Mahler and Miles Thorne of Colorado Springs at UCHealth Memorial Hospital North in the Springs.
Noah Stephen made his entrance at 12:42 a.m. Stephen was born at Intermountain Healthcare's Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette.
Not far behind was Joevonni Rae Baez, a 5-pound, 7-ounce bundle of joy born to Krimson Avila and Joseph Baez at 12:56 a.m. at Denver Health Medical Center.
Joevonni's parents received a gift from the hospital's Newborns in Need program "to help with the dirty work" in the coming year: 2,023 diapers.