Sarnia’s New Year’s baby, a boy and the first child for Strathroy’s Jessica Brown and Trevor Howard, was born at 6:34 pm Wednesday at Bluewater Health.
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Levi Joshua Howard weighed 7 lbs., 4 ounces, the hospital said.
“We’re super happy, excited and we can’t wait to bring him home,” Trevor Howard said.
“Baby’s great” and “mom’s doing great,” he said. “Family and friends are super excited.”
Levi’s due date was Jan. 8 but Brown began feeling signs of labor on New Year’s Eve, Howard said.
“We were playing a board game, and she started having some contractions and then it started to get a little bit worse,” he said.
They decided to head for the hospital in Sarnia at around 1 am, New Year’s Day, just to be sure but were expecting they might be sent home again, Howard said.
“We thought maybe we were a little too early,” he said.
“Maybe half an hour into being here, her water broke” and the couple was told by hospital staff, “you’re not going anywhere,” Howard said.
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He said they were happy Levi is a “January baby” and are looking forward to telling him the story about being Sarnia’s New Year’s baby.
“Jessica’s mom was with us the whole time,” Howard said. “She’s a nurse so it was really great having her here.”
Howard said Levi is the couple’s “rainbow baby,” after losing two previous pregnancies.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better way of starting the year,” he said.
Levi is a name he and Brown thing together, and Joshua is the name of Brown’s younger brother, Howard said.
Howard works for TD Waterhouse and Brown works for the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario. He said they were married four weeks ago.
Because the maternity department at the hospital in Strathroy closed in 2024, the couple was given the option of going to Sarnia, London or St. Thomas, he said.
“We really couldn’t have picked better,” Howard said. “Everything here has been really great.”
He said they were both grateful for the care provided at the hospital. “Everyone has been so great,” Howard said.
“We’re just happy to start the New Year as a family,” Brown said.
“We’re really looking forward to everything that comes with that,” Howard said.
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