Hilo Medical Center welcomed its first baby of 2017 at 6:26 a.m. on New Year’s Day (Sunday). Keegan Koa O Ke Akua Santos arrived, weighing 6 pounds and 5 ounces and measuring 19 inches in length.
Hilo Medical Center welcomed its first baby of 2017 at 6:26 a.m. on New Year’s Day (Sunday). Keegan Koa O Ke Akua Santos arrived, weighing 6 pounds and 5 ounces and measuring 19 inches in length.
“I wanted him to be a New Year baby,” said Keegan’s mother, Sybil Fernandez-Wise, recalling how during Christmas she felt like she was going to give birth. However, it was a week earlier than her other births and the contractions subsided.
A week later, Sybil Fernandez-Wise got her New Year’s wish.
She looks forward to getting a place of her own in the coming year with her five children. She appreciates her cousin, Amber Ziegler, for being with her throughout the entire pregnancy.
Her oldest sister, Jazzmen Epstien, gave Keegan his middle name, “Koa O Ke Akua,” meaning “warrior of the gods.”
Every year, Hilo Medical Center congratulates the family of the New Year’s baby with a well-stocked basket of supplies and parenting resources. HMC delivers nearly 100 babies a month.