Bay Area welcomes its first babies of 2023

The first baby born in the Bay Area was also the first born for the Laviolette family — and a small miracle of their own.

Allison and Erik Laviolette, of Pleasant Hill, welcomed a baby boy at 12:06 a.m. New Year’s Day at the Kaiser Permanente Walnut Creek Medical Center. Ezekiel entered the world weighing 7 pounds and 9 ounces.

“We can’t believe it,” Allison said, adding that doctors induced labor early at 39 weeks because it was a high-risk pregnancy. “We had no idea that he was going to be the first baby of the new year, but we’re very excited about it.”

The first-time parents in their early 30s said they weren’t sure they could even get pregnant. After finding out the good news, Erik said they chose to name their new bundle of joy after the Book of Ezekiel in the Bible, inspired by a passage about breathing new life into dry bones.

“He’s just a little miracle,” he said. “Him coming into the world, for Ali and I, is breathing a new breath into our life.”

Families across the Bay Area rang in the New Year in labor and delivery rooms.

Babies were also born at 1 a.m. at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, at 1:16 a.m. at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, 1:39 a.m. at Washington Hospital Healthcare System in Fremont and 3:44 a.m. at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose.

One of the earliest — and the first in the South Bay — was Baby Nylashae, who was born at 12:16 a.m. at El Camino Health – Los Gatos Hospital, weighing 7 pounds and 8 ounces.

Her parents, Tai Bass, 30, and Kirby Nelson, 31, said they can’t wait to get home, rest and start life as a family of three in San Jose.

After Nylashae’s due date was pushed twice from Dec. 19 and Dec. 27, Tai said holding her in her arms on New Year’s Day was a surreal experience.

“To be able to love without even seeing her was a bizarre and beautiful experience,” Tai said. “This baby was brought into this world out of love, so we plan on raising her surrounded with love.”

For father Kirby, the early-morning delivery brought nerves, but he said he was feeling proud of Tai for going through labor and was excited to see what’s next: “I’m really looking forward to all the years that we’ll have to spend together.”