Sonja and Dale Garrett, of Auburn, welcomed their second child, a baby girl, at 4:22 a.m. Friday at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. She is Lawrence’s first baby of the year.

The first baby born in Lawrence in 2010 wasn’t supposed to be the “baby of the year.”

Dale and Sonja Garrett were expecting their second child to arrive Jan. 7, but Sonja delivered a healthy, 5-pound, 11-ounce, 19-inch girl at 4:22 a.m. New Year’s Day.

The only complication? The couple had yet to decide on a name.

“This baby was supposed to be here on the 7th, even though we started thinking she would be early,” said Dale, a doctor specializing in occupational medicine. “Then on New Year’s Eve the contractions started coming. When the ball dropped, I guess she thought it was time to make like a baby and head out.”

Dale and Sonja, who have a 2-year-old daughter named Nastassja, made the 40-mile trip to Lawrence Memorial Hospital from Auburn, south of Topeka. They started driving just after 2 a.m., arrived at LMH about 3 a.m. and welcomed their new baby nearly an hour and a half later.

At the time of Sonja’s arrival at the hospital, her contractions were coming at approximately two-minute intervals.

Sonja and Dale Garrett of Auburn, Kan., are the proud parents of a New Year baby girl, born 4:22 a.m. Friday at LMH.

“Thank goodness for K-TAG,” Dale said. “I would’ve upgraded to an H-I-J or L-M-N-O-P tag.”

Added Sonja: “I was ready to go.”

While watching New Year’s Eve festivities on television, the couple used a stopwatch iPhone application to keep track of the time between Sonja’s contractions. Sonja, a personal trainer, said that she was surprised at how brief her labor was and that at one point she was scared she would need to give birth in the car. When Sonja arrived at the hospital, staff took her immediately to the birthing center, where Dr. Samantha Durland completed the delivery — without wearing socks, which she didn’t have time to put on before leaving the house.

As-yet-unnamed but healthy, Lawrence’s “baby of the year” gave her parents quite the reason to celebrate the arrival of 2010.

“Last year we spent our New Year’s Eve at home with our daughter, and it was very special,” Dale said. “Now to have this happen, it’s the best New Year’s we could have imagined.”