Mom beamed, Dad looked sleepy, and Cole Ray Hermreck calmly took it all in.
Cole weighing 7 pounds, 10 ounces and measuring 19 3/4 inches long arrived at 1 p.m. and became the first baby born in 2002 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
Parents Dana and Chet Hermreck, who live near Williamsburg, beam with joy over their baby boy, Cole, the first baby of 2002 for Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Cole was born at 1 p.m. New Year's Day.
Just hours later, the proud family posed for newspaper and television photographers and told the story of Cole's arrival.
"I'm just glad he's here," Dana Hermreck said as she held her newborn. She and her husband, Chet, had about an hour drive to the hospital, coming from near Williamsburg in the early morning hours right after the start of New Year's Day.
"I kept saying, 'Don't slow down, and don't hit any bumps,'" Dana said.
Chet said he wasn't sure she was going to have the baby because it wasn't due until Jan. 7. "But she hit it right on the button," Chet said. Her water broke just as they arrived at the hospital.
But delivery was still hours away. About 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Chet stepped out of the hospital room to get a drink, and when he came back, things were moving along pretty quickly.
As the first newborn of the new year, the Hermrecks will carry off a bundle of gifts courtesy of sponsors of KLWN-AM and KLZR-FM radio stations.
Dana, 31, and Chet, 28, who have been married for four years, said having the first baby of the new year in Lawrence was just the icing on the cake to having their first child.
"I didn't think I'd have them (children)," Dana said. "And then I decided it's time to have a baby, so we went for it, and we got a precious little guy."
And the little guy is in for an active ride. Chet and Dana stay busy with about 20 acres, where they keep horses while also working day jobs.
Up until shortly before Thanksgiving, Dana was riding a tractor and cutting brush for Franklin County. But when she got too far along with Cole, she said, she was given a desk job. Chet is foreman of a bucket truck for a tree trimming company.
Cole's birth also started the year off for Lawrence Memorial Hospital, which saw a record 1,040 births in 2001.
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