The suburbs' first babies of 2019: Yarehlie, Iliana, Olivia, Valentina
The first baby of 2019 born in the suburbs was a few days late and became a little celebrity as well as a belated gift for her mother.
Yarehlie Nava weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces and was 21 inches long when she arrived at 12:05 a.m. to an Elgin couple at Amita Health Alexian Brothers Women and Children's Hospital in Hoffman Estates.
She is the fifth child and first girl born to Freddie Nava and Maria Ramirez.
"To me it's significant because it's my first daughter," Maria said. "Not so much the fact she's the first baby (but) that I could have a daughter means the world to me."
A sleepy Yarehlie and her mother were visited Tuesday by several media outlets to document the first suburban arrival of 2019. Maria went to the hospital early Monday and delivered nearly a day later.
"She wasn't ready to come out until then. It was all on her," Maria said.
The name is similar to that of Maria's niece but has no special significance other than that she liked the sound and thought it distinctive.
"It's just a name I liked ever since I was little and I said if I ever have a daughter, that's what I would name her," Maria said.
Maria said she came to know in advance her baby would be a girl but was not convinced. She said her husband predicted not only the sex but the date of the birth when she became pregnant.
"He said, 'It's going to be a girl and be born on New Year's," she said. "He called it intuition."
Yarehlie and other kids born Tuesday will turn 21 in 2040, presumably retire some time in 2084 and likely live to see the end of the century.
She was joined by several others who followed in the first hour of 2019, including boys at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, DeKalb, at 12:16 a.m. and at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, Geneva, at 12:17 a.m.
Others included Iliana Rolland at 12:23 a.m. at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield. She is the daughter of Leanne and Jason Rolland of Winfield.
In Libertyville, Olivia Kathryn Klein, the daughter of Kerry and Tom Klein, also arrived at 12:23 a.m. at Advocate Condell Medical Center.
At Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Valentina Castaldi was born at 12:38 a.m., the first child of Maureen and Anthony Castaldi, who met at St. Viator High School. Maureen is a physician assistant at NCH immediate care centers and a lifelong resident of Arlington Heights.
Maureen gave birth at 30, the same age her mother was when Maureen was born in the same hospital.