{"id":404139,"date":"2024-01-03T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=404139"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"New-Year-s-baby-arrives-just-in-the-nick-of-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/New-Year-s-baby-arrives-just-in-the-nick-of-time\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year\u2019s baby arrives just in the nick of time"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a surprising turn of events, the CNMI nearly ended the first day of 2024 without naming a New Year\u2019s baby, but Aerich Chen Roda Ayuyu made it just in time when he entered the world nearly three hours short of Jan. 2.<\/p>\n

In the history of CNMI New Year\u2019s babies, the Commonwealth Health Center has always delivered a newborn soon after the stroke of midnight of Jan.1. or had women in labor and ready to give birth by Jan 1.<\/p>\n

However, nurses and midwives at CHCC were shocked this year when the hospital\u2019s labor and delivery ward was silent as the clock struck 12am last Monday, with no prospective New Year\u2019s baby expected. It now appears that this year\u2019s special guest wanted to make a grand entrance. Weighing in at a little over 11 lbs, Ayuyu was born to parents Evelyn Roda and Agustin Ayuyu Jr. in the nick of time, arriving at 9:17pm on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Roda] was the only one who gave birth on New Year\u2019s Day. Usually, we deliver a baby closer to when New Year\u2019s Day hits instead of almost the following day. Around the holidays, the census in the hospital goes down a lot but it\u2019s been light for a couple of days,\u201d said CHC midwife Teresa Anderson.<\/p>\n

Anderson, a veteran in helping mothers deliver children and well versed in delivering New Year\u2019s babies, shared that Ayuyu was born with no complications.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mother\u2019s labor started at 2pm on Jan. 1; labor was about seven hours. The birth of the baby wasn\u2019t complicated. The mother\u2019s water broke first and then she went into labor, so it was a little slower, but other than that, it was a pretty normal birth and she gave birth naturally. He was born at 5 lbs and 11 ounces,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On behalf of her team at CHC, Anderson congratulates the family on their new bundle of joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations to the family. The mother and the family did an amazing job, I loved taking care of them while they were here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the baby\u2019s mother, Roda, she said she went to CHC at around 12pm last Monday, unsure if she was going to give birth yet, but at around 2pm, her seven-hour long labor began.<\/p>\n

Speaking of her experience throughout the process, she said she and her baby were taken care of at CHC and she is excited that her baby is the first baby of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came in at around 12:30pm but went into labor at around 2pm so my labor was like seven hours. My birthing experience here at CHCC was good, the nurses really helped me with my delivery. This is my first time birthing a New Year\u2019s Day baby and it\u2019s so exciting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Roda\u2019s mother-in-law, Yuenei Chen Ayuyu, was also present and shared that, in the Chinese culture, the first baby born in a year is considered lucky, so she is so happy to have welcomed her grandson on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy that my grandson was the first baby of 2024. I believe it\u2019s also [a symbol] of good luck. In China, we say that when a baby is born on the first day, of the first month, of a New Year, they\u2019re lucky. My grandson was that and was also the only baby in the hospital today. I am so happy to welcome my grandson today and I\u2019m so happy for my son and daughter in law,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After years of hiatus, Marianas Pacific Distributors resumed its tradition of greeting the New Year\u2019s baby at the hospital with generous gifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the last couple of years, we just had the parents, along with the New Year\u2019s baby, come in and accept their gifts here at MarPac. This was due to COVID. But now, we\u2019ve finally gone back to our tradition of personally visiting the first newborn baby of the year,\u201d said Thomas Babauta Basa, MarPac\u2019s consumer sales manager.<\/p>\n

This year, MarPac surprised the family with about $500 worth of gifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, we awarded the New Year\u2019s baby and his family with Huggies diapers and wipes, feminine products for the mother, Enfamil, and other small gifts we wanted to give the family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarpac has always been known to give back to our community. We\u2019ve been here 50 years and because we love our consumers and community, we love to give back as much as we can as well,\u201d Basa added.<\/p>\n

Basa also congratulated the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of MarPac, congratulations to the Roda-Ayuyu family on welcoming their new baby and the CNMI\u2019s first, if not only, baby born on New Year\u2019s Day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Marianas Pacific (MarPac) Distributors representatives pose for a photo with Evelyn Roda and Aerich Chen Roda Ayuyu, the first baby born in the CNMI this year.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Evelyn Roda holds the CNMI\u2019s New Year\u2019s baby, Aerich Chen Roda Ayuyu, with the baby\u2019s grandmother, Yunei Chen Ayuyu.<\/p>\n

-KIMBERLY B. ESMORES
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Commonwealth Health Center nurses and midwife pose for a photo with New Year\u2019s baby Aerich Chen Roda Ayuyu and his mother, Evelyn Roda.<\/p>\n

-KIMBERLY B. ESMORES
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a surprising turn of events, the CNMI nearly ended the first day of 2024…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-404139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404139\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}