Grandma Nurse on Duty When 2013 New Year’s Baby Born at St. Charles

When Lorrie Faulhaber went to her job as a labor and delivery nurse at St. Charles Hospital on New Year's Day she never expected that her first grandchild would also be the first baby born there in 2013.

According to a spokesperson from St. Charles, Port Jefferson Station residents Lauren and Travis Faulhaber spent New Year’s Eve celebrating their wedding anniversary having dinner. Mrs. Faulhaber was already six days past her due date and she was scheduled to be induced by doctors on Jan. 3 at the hospital. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Faulhaber went into labor early on Jan. 1.

Rylee Taylor Faulhaber was born at 6:10 p.m. that day. She is the couple’s first child.

“When I saw my son’s face and his emotion when Rylee was born, I cried,” said Faulhaber, who was there for the birth. “When a dad sees his baby for the first time, that’s when the experience becomes real for them; when the extent of the connection to their child is realized. That is what I felt when Rylee was born.”

The hospital also said that Rylee’s birth has another family coincidence. She also shares a birthday with her great-grandmother, who turned 86 on New Year’s Day.

For being the first baby born at St. Charles in 2013, the hospital gave the Faulhabers a gift basket courtesy of the hospital and the Babies R Us chain of stores.

Rylee is the first of about 2,000 babies estimated to be delivered at St. Charles Hospital this year. In addition to its six birthing rooms and 22 maternity beds in the delivery department, the hospital has a level II neonatal unit with six neonatology bassinets staffed with neonatologists and neonatal nurse practitioners for newborns requiring special care.