Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to Annie Jo Kathryn Lake, the first baby born in 2015 at Southwest Memorial Hospital.
Parents Chris and Tiffanie Lake, of Cortez, had a premonition they would be in the running for the honor, and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"I was due Jan. 6, but she came early," said Tiffanie of her first child. "It's exciting and will make her birthdays really fun."
"We talked about her being the first, but didn't think it would happen because the due date was a week away," Chris said. "You never know; it's a nice surprise."
The couple arrived at Southwest Memorial on the evening of New Year's Eve, but were sent home.
"They said it would be a while, then her water broke later that night, and we arrived back here at 12:30 a.m.," Chris said.
After "a lot of pushing" at 9:35 a.m., Jan. 1, the couple welcomed their new, healthy baby into the world. She weighs 6 pounds, 6.5 ounces, and is 18.5 inches long.
The Lakes were married in March, and this is their first child together.
"It all happened so fast," Chris said.
Caite Lake, Chris's 15-year-old daughter, was there for the occasion, and plans to help babysit.
"We have family coming out, and are both taking time off," Chris said, who has lived in Cortez since 1994.
He works as an IT tech for Durango Schools, and Tiffanie teaches algebra at Montezuma-Cortez High School. She recently moved to Cortez from Blanding, Utah.
Haley Leaonard, marketing director for Southwest, presented the couple with prizes, including a $100 gift certificate from City Market.
Down the road in Durango, nobody could beat Evelyn Rose Gosney, whose 12:02 a.m. birth at Mercy Regional Medical Center was the first baby of the year for Colorado.
It was a tight race. Kathleen Marie Hathaway, of Denver, was born at 12:14 a.m. New Year's Day.
New Mexico's first New Year's Day baby, Angelo Oros, was born at San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington. He was born at 12:00:45 a.m., weighing in at 7 pounds and 14 ounces.
The Denver Zoo also announced an early arrival - a zebra born early Thursday. Mother Crestone and her baby are being kept in a warm barn until the weather warms up. A naming contest is planned.
