Lorena Lively of Grand Lake gave birth to the first baby born in the Lake Charles area at 9:21 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 1, at Women
& Children’s Hospital.
Reagan Sophia weighed in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces, and measured 19.5 inches long.
“We had no idea that I would deliver on New Year’s Day,” Lively said. “Reagan wasn’t expected to be born until closer to my
due date of Jan. 17.”
The couple headed to the hospital at
about 6 a.m. after Lively started feeling strong contractions. Once
she’d settled into
her room, Lively told her husband, Steve, to go to the store to
buy a new shirt in preparation for photos and visitors after
she delivered the child.
“While away, I received a call from an extended family member who said, ‘You need to hurry back because I don’t think Reagan
is going to wait on you,’ ” Steve said.
“When I walked back into Lorena’s room,
there was my new baby girl, already lying in the baby warmer. Although I
missed most
of the action, I am just so blessed that Lorena and Reagan are
both doing well and that we made it to the hospital in time.
“I’ve been right there for the births of my other five children, but this was truly a New Year’s Day surprise.”
Steve said his daughter is named after Ronald Reagan, who was president of the United States when Lorena’s parents became
naturalized U.S. citizens.
“They were born in Mexico,” he said. “And if they wouldn’t have come to this country, I wouldn’t have met my beautiful wife
or be blessed with our children.”