PORT TOWNSEND — A baby girl born at Jefferson Healthcare hospital in Port Townsend was reportedly the first baby born in 2013 on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The Peninsula’s second reported baby was born in a Port Angeles hospital.
Both of the baby girls made their appearance in the pre-dawn hours of the first day of the year Tuesday.
Amelia Moon Spindler, however, was the first to arrive.
The baby born to Drew and Annie Spindler of Bainbridge Island weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 19 inches long when she came into the world at 4 a.m. at Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend.
She was soon followed by Noelani Dailey, born to Stevie Martinez-Cruz at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles at 6:14 a.m.
Noelani weighed 8 pounds,
9 ounces, and was 21 inches long.
With a Dec. 18 due date — and two weeks overdue — Amelia was in no hurry to enter the world, said her mother, Annie Spindler, 32.
“Two weeks late, well worth the wait,” the new mom said Tuesday afternoon in Port Townsend.
“It makes for a happy new year,” she said.
The Spindlers’ 51-hour labor ordeal began at 1 a.m. Sunday during their attempted home birth on Bainbridge Island, said Drew Spindler, 29.
After more than 10 hours of labor, and with little progress, the decision was made to go to the hospital, he said.
“It was a real long couple of days,” he said.
Not only was Amelia Moon the firstborn for 2013, she also is the Spindlers’ firstborn, the new father said.
The family planned to return to Bainbridge Island today to join family and friends, who will welcome the new addition.
In Port Angeles, Noelani Dailey was born a week early. She wasn’t due until the following Monday, said her mother.
But each of Martinez-Cruz’s two other children also had arrived a week before they were due, so Noelani’s early arrival wasn’t a surprise, she said.
“I started timing contractions at 7:47 p.m. last night, and Noelani was born at 6:14 a.m.,” said Martinez-Cruz, 31.
“She was a little stubborn at first,” the new mother said.
Martinez-Cruz was born and raised in Port Angeles.
The baby girl is expected to go home with her mother today to join older siblings Kaytlin, 4, and Nason, 7.
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
