New mother Amilee Turner with her baby girl Micah-Belle Turner on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Micah-Belle was the first baby of 2017 born at Lawrence Memorial Hospital on Jan. 2 at 4:25 p.m.

Amilee Turner wasn’t sure if her daughter would arrive by New Year’s Day. Turner’s doctors said it could happen anytime between then and Jan. 4. Still, the first-time mom had a feeling that Micah-Belle, born at 4:25 p.m. Monday, would be a “special baby,” regardless.

“She’s definitely still a New Year’s baby to me,” Turner recalled Tuesday of the “surprise” arrival of her daughter, who holds the distinction of being the first baby born at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in 2017. The little girl made her way into the world — and soon after, her mother’s arms — at a healthy 8 pounds, 7 ounces.

That moment of relief and exhaustion and pure joy, Turner said the next morning, “changed my whole life.”

For Turner, who was born 27 years ago at the same hospital and plans to entrust her daughter’s care to the same LMH pediatrician she had as a kid, Micah-Belle represents all the hope and optimism of the new year.

“To me, it’s a new beginning, a new change in life, a new journey,” Turner said, the baby resting peacefully, snug in a pink onesie, against her chest. “I’m working on my doctorate at KU, and she’s just going to continue being a motivator behind her mom’s goals.”

It’ll be a “few more years” before she’s able to complete her doctoral studies in political science, though, admits Turner, who also works as a program leader for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri.

Right now, she’s focusing on spending the next six months mostly at her newborn daughter’s side. Micah-Belle will accompany her mom on trips to the KU campus and to the office in Kansas City, where she’ll meet coworkers and the other little girls — Daisies and Brownies galore — with whom Turner, already an “overprotective” mama bear, shares her life.

“All the Girl Scouts members — she’s got several mothers, let’s just say that,” Turner jokingly said.

And then there’s little Micah-Belle’s biological family, the “strong women” who have been Turner’s constant support system throughout her pregnancy and will remain just as involved, she knows, throughout her daughter’s life, too.

“I haven’t been left alone for nine months,” the new mom recalled Tuesday with a laugh.

The first half of Micah-Belle’s name comes from one of Turner’s favorite biblical chapters. The second half, Belle, is the middle name that once belonged to Turner’s beloved grandmother, who passed away last year.

“I wanted to do something in her honor,” Turner said.

Belle, of course, is also the French word for beauty, “and I knew that was going to happen right away,” Turner explained, looking down at the little girl — a “twin” of her mother, all thick black hair under her pink cap — nestled in her arms. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”