A Stratford family of four is now a family of five after ringing in the new year with a new family member.
Colleen Fortune, the first baby born at the Stratford General Hospital in 2023, made her big entrance at 12:08 pm on New Year’s Day, her mom, Amanda Fortune, told the Beacon Herald.
“She was about a week overdue,” she said. “We were thinking we’d have a Christmas baby, but she wanted to hold out for New Year’s, apparently. She thought that would be better. She wanted 2023. So we had gone into the hospital in the morning around 8 am to have an appointment and a checkup. She was a little late, but she was out and ready by noon.”
Colleen was born at a healthy weight of seven pounds and two ounces. Amanda Fortune said she, husband Drew Fortune and their daughters, Emma, 5, and Evelyn, 4, are overjoyed to welcome Colleen to the family.
So far, Amanda Fortune said her newly expanded family has been taking time to get used to the new routines at home, and Colleen has been introduced to both sets of grandparents.
“We’re just so excited to have our big family ready and here and have her welcomed with us,” Amanda Fortune said. “It’s just so exciting.”