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Yonkers Woman Gives Birth To First New Year's Baby In Westchester

YONKERS, N.Y. -- Resby Okang was told by her doctor that Jan. 1 would be the due date for her fourth child, but Baby Andrew's birth at 12:09 a.m. on New Year's Day 2014 was a bit of a surprise.

Mother Respy Okang and her New Year's baby boy Andrew at St. John's Riverside Hospital.

Mother Respy Okang and her New Year's baby boy Andrew at St. John's Riverside Hospital.

Photo Credit: Danny LoPriore
Respy Okang and her newborn son Andrew.

Respy Okang and her newborn son Andrew.

Photo Credit: Danny LoPriore
Mom Respy Okang and St. John's nurses Kathy Hoffer, right, and Christina Rajan, right, with baby Andrew.

Mom Respy Okang and St. John's nurses Kathy Hoffer, right, and Christina Rajan, right, with baby Andrew.

Photo Credit: Danny LoPriore

Andrew Okang's arrival was the earliest birth reported in Westchester County on Wednesday.

"I just had a check-up this week and the doctor said it was not time yet," Okang said from her room at St. John's Riverside Hospital in Yonkers early Wednesday. "I was surprised that the baby came today. He is very well. I'm very pleased."

Andrew, the most recent of the Okang's four sons, weighed in at 7 pounds and 10 ounces and is 19 inches long.

Okang said her husband Samuel had notified all of the family members back home in the couple's native Ghana.

"Everyone knows already," the New Year's Day mother said. "It's a nice thing to have a baby on this day and I'm feeling well. My older boys will be coming to visit later today."

Nurse Kathy Hoffer and Christina Rajan celebrated the hospital's first New Year's baby with the Okangas.

"We haven't had the first Yonkers baby for 12 years," Hoffer said. "We're very excited and happy."

New Year's Day babies were also born Wednesday at Phelps Hospital at 12:24 a.m., White Plains Hospital (6:07 a.m.) and Bronxville's  Lawrence Hospital (3 a.m.).

 

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