Local hospitals welcome 12-12-12 babies

The baby delivery ward at Glendale Adventist Medical Center has been a hub of activity this morning, with eight babies born by midday on the very rare date of 12-12-12 -- the last time a triple-date sequence will be on the calendar this century.

The hospital expects to have 14 births by the end of the day, said spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez, adding that the average number of deliveries a day is eight.

As of 11:30 a.m., three of the births were C-sections, with two more scheduled for today, Gonzalez told the Glendale News-Press.

Jesse John Martinez Jr. was the first natural birth, arriving at 4:59 a.m.

He was supposed to be born on Christmas Day, but his mother, Nicole Medrano, 18, went into labor around 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Medrano said she wasn’t particularly surprised by the early arrival.

“I was born a week early and my mom was born two weeks early,” she said.

The baby’s father, Jess Martinez, 18, said he didn’t expect the baby to be born on such a special day.

“I guess we were just lucky,” he said.

The couple, who are engaged, live in Highland Park. Medrano is a recreation leader at the Monrovia Community Center and Martinez works at Domino’s Pizza.

At Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center, a baby was born naturally at 12:45 a.m. and a C-section is scheduled for around noon, according to spokeswoman Angela Giacobbe.

Verdugo Hills Hospital had a C-section scheduled for around 10:30 a.m., according to spokeswoman Celine Petrossian.

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-- Mark Kellam, Times Community News