The first babies of 2023 have been born at Sierra View Medical Center in Porterville and Kaweah Health Medical Center in Visalia.
Dulce Roman Jaimes is the proud mother of Bonifacio Tellez Roman, Sierra View’s 2023 New Year’s Baby born at 12:10 a.m. with the help of Kim Estrada, RN of SVMC’s Maternal Child Health Department. Baby Bonifacio weighed 7 pounds and 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. This baby boy made an early appearance, with an original due date of January 4, 2023.
Bonifacio is little brother to Dulce’s first son Gabriel, who is two years old. Uncle, Victor Hugo Roman Jaimes, explained how starling the arrival of baby Bonifaso was. Early this morning after the call, Victor rushed to the hospital to greet baby Bonifacio, surprised he entered the world early but grateful to start the new year with him.
The hospital presented the family with a New Year’s Baby gift basket filled with newborn swaddles, reversible burp cloths, a nursing cover, a baby nail care kit, SVMC first aid kit, and a little something for the family: a SVMC mug, lip balm, hand sanitizer, and Band-Aids.
Fifty minutes later, Elias Perez, born at 1:01 a.m., was the first baby of 2023 delivered at Kaweah Health. Born to Ana Perez Arreola of Visalia, Elias weighed 6.5 pounds and was 20.47 inches in length. Elias was one of six babies delivered on Jan. 1 as of 1:42 p.m. at Kaweah Health Medical Center.
The first baby girl of 2023 born at Kaweah Health was Braelynn Tate Nicholson. Born at 6:37 a.m. to Madelynn and Bradley Nicholson, of Porterville, Braelynn weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20.25 inches in length.
Kaweah Health’s Family Birthing Center provides maternity and infant health care. It offers the community a 21-bed labor and delivery unit, a 42-bed postpartum unit, the largest labor/delivery triage area in Tulare County with anesthesiologists, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists for high-risk deliveries and a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) staffed by physicians from Valley Children’s Medical Group. Kaweah Health’s NICU is community designated by California Children’s Services as providing care for infants as early as 26-weeks’ gestation and has a neonatologist and pediatric hospitalist on site 24/7.