Caleb Kornegay spent much of his first day in the world with his eyes closed, sleeping off a New Year’s Eve that had his mother in labor for nine hours.
The first baby born at a Triangle hospital in 2013, Caleb checked in at 12:03 a.m. He weighed 6 pounds, was 19 inches long and had so much hair that the nurses at WakeMed could mold a mohawk.
“He’s just adorable and very, very, very sweet,” said his mother, Anika Kornegay, of Goldsboro.
He’s also very, very punctual – New Year’s Day was his due date.
“I thought he was going to come early, but he shocked me and surprised me,” Kornegay said with a laugh.
Sandra Langston said she coached her daughter through the delivery as midnight approached.
“I said, ‘Hold on. Don’t give up. We got it,” Langston said. “Truly, this is a happy new year, 2013.”
Because he was the first baby of the year, WakeMed gave Caleb a hat knitted by volunteers.
“This was like a miracle, a blessing that he was born on (Jan. 1),” Kornegay said, adding that she knows how she will be spending New Year’s Day for years to come.
“Celebrating with Caleb. I don’t think he’ll have it any other way,” she said.
Kornegay and her husband also have two daughters.
Although he was the first in the Triangle, Caleb wasn’t North Carolina’s first 2013 baby. A child was born in Greenville 24 seconds after midnight.
