By Staff
Hospital welcomes its first baby of 2008
By DAN PARSONS
Staff Writer
With less than two hours to go in the first day of 2008, Beaufort County Hospital welcomed the birth of Emonie Keyes.
The girl baby, weighing in at six pounds, seven ounces, was born at 10:10 p.m. Tuesday.
Confident her baby was on the way, Sinetta Keyes arrived at the hospital at 8:15 p.m., less than a week from her Jan. 6 due date. At 9:30 p.m., Keyes realized her baby might be born on New Year’s Day. Keyes said she was uncertain if Emonie would arrive before midnight or be the first baby born in Beaufort County in 2008.
Emonie’s father, Steve Harper, said he’ll be the one on diaper duty while Keyes cares for the couple’s three other children, Iana, 6, Kalell, 4, and 18-month-old Lucy. Keyes and Harper live in Washington. She works as a crew supervisor at Hardee’s in Chocowinity.
Seeing their baby sister for the second time, the other children nodded their heads enthusiastically when asked about whether they are excited over another addition to the family. The excitement didn’t last for Lucy, who within minutes began to cry and ran to her father.
Harper was at the hospital for the birth of his new daughter, which he said was over surprisingly quickly.
Keeping with hospital tradition, hospital volunteers Sue Creech and Martha Kuehn presented Keyes and Harper with a basket filled with baby-care supplies to recognize Emonie as being the first baby born at the hospital in 2008.