Welcome to the world Sayler Roy Perales, the first baby born in 2020 at Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez.
Zhjade Perales, of Cortez, gave birth to Sayler at 5:16 a.m. New Year’s Day as a soft snow fell outside her hospital window.
“It all went very fast,” said Zhjade, 26. “My mom drove me here around 2 a.m., and he was born a little while later. It’s a big surprise, kinda surreal, that he’s the first baby of the year. I did not expect that. It’s fun.”
The healthy boy weighs in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and was not originally due until 12 days later, but decided to arrive a few days after his mother’s birthday.
On New Year’s Eve, she watching the ball drop in Times Square on television with her parents, then had a restless night and was pacing about. Her mother, Sherry Lansing, noticed, and they decided to drive to the hospital to be on the safe side.
A quick delivery followed — a preferred natural birth with no pain medication, and there were no complications.
“She’s tough, we’re so proud,” Lansing said. “I got to cut the umbilical cord.”
Zhjade also was born at Southwest Memorial, she added, almost 26 years ago to the day.
The joke in the family is that a spicy meal of enchiladas on New Year’s Eve triggered the early birth of Sayler.
The special birthday gift is a blessing, the family said. Zhjade’s 3-year old daughter now has a baby brother to grow up with.
“My daughter is very bright. She’s opening up to her brother and understood that I was carrying him,” she said. “I feel more prepared for the second one, except a boy will be different.”
That’s where grandpa Roy Perales can help, teaching his new grandson his favorite hobbies of fishing and the sport of running, Lansing said.
Zhjade, who is a hair stylist at the Shear Shack, said she looks forward to raising her family in Cortez.
“I grew up here and like the tight-knit community of a smaller town,” she said. “The nurses and doctors have been great.”
The hospital presented the family with a gift basket, and photos will be posted on Southwest Memorial’s social media, with mom’s permission.
“It’s pretty special the legacy of mom being born here, then 26 years later, her son being born here too,” said hospital communications manager Lindsay Yeager. “It’s our privilege to care for generations of families in our community. Congratulations to this special family!”