Amy Lisenbe/Nevada Appeal Maira Avila and Juan Jose Lara, of San Francisco, spend time with their newborn son, Juan Jose Lara Avila, in their room at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center on Tuesday morning. Lara Avila, born at 4:35 a.m. Tuesday, was the first baby of the new year at the medical center.
Maira Avila and Juan Jose Lara came to Nevada to visit family, and wound up increasing the family's number by one.
Juan Jose Lara Avila, the first baby born at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center in 2008, came into the world at 4:35 a.m., rather suddenly.
The couple and their family had been out playing the slot machines and when she returned to their home in Stateline, Avila's water broke and it was time to head for the hospital.
Little Juan was 7 pounds, 9 ounces at birth and is 19.5 inches long.
The couple, who are originally from Honduras and have two other children, live in San Francisco, where Lara is a construction worker and Avila is a full-time homemaker.
"I'm very happy," Avila said through hospital interpreter Soco Bertolina, adding that she thinks her baby will be lucky being the first baby of the New Year.
She said her hopes for her new baby are the same as any mother's hopes.
"That he get a good education, and have happiness and health," she said.
Their other two children, Eric, 13, and Stephanie, 9, were staying with other relatives while mom and dad recuperated from the birth. Both appeared tired, and the baby was calm and quiet, helping his parents to rest.
Little Juan didn't cry at all at the intrusion of strangers into his room, and wasn't fazed by the flash of the camera.
Avila said they will return to San Francisco as soon as they are released from the hospital.
• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.