Kasey Dow gave birth to Jude Owen Dow about 45 minutes into the new year at Lincoln Health in Damariscotta. Zachary Dow is the father. Photo courtesy of Lincoln Health
A Waldoboro couple’s baby appears to be Maine’s first of 2023.
Jude Owen Dow was born at LincolnHealth Miles Maternity in Damariscotta at 12:44 a.m. Sunday, according to spokesman John Martins.
Martins said he checked with a half dozen other Maine hospitals and Jude appears to be the first baby born in Maine this year, coming in ahead of Esther Florandy Saint Aude, who was born at Portland’s Maine Medical Center at 2:31 a.m. Sunday.
Jude is the son of Kasey and Zachary Dow of Waldoboro and is the couple’s first child. He weighed 8 pounds, 1/2 ounce, and was 20 1/2 inches tall.
The couple had planned for a home birth with two midwives attending, but a complication forced them to go to the hospital around midnight on New Year’s Eve as fireworks lit the skies in the neighboring town of Friendship. Kasey went into labor at about 8:15 pm. Friday.
“As we were pulling out of the parking lot, the ball was dropping,” Kasey recalled. She was taken to LincolnHealth in an ambulance and gave birth a short time after reaching the hospital.
The couple returned home Monday. “I’m doing better now,” Kasey said Monday night in a telephone interview. She praised the two midwives who tended to her during pregnancy.
“Jude is in perfect health. He is a very good eater and sleeper,” Kasey said. “We are super blessed and very happy.”
And having Maine’s first baby of 2023? “Well, that’s just icing on the cake,’’ said Zachary, an electrician.
Two other New Year’s Day babies were delivered at hospitals in Portland and Augusta.
Esther Florandy Saint Aude was born at Maine Medical Center weighing seven pounds, 11 ounces, and 21 inches long. Her parents are Emmanuella Saint Aude and Widner Los of Westbrook, according to Maine Medical Center spokesman Clay Holtzman.
Lawrence Patrice Audet IV was the Augusta area’s first baby of 2023. Audet was born at Alfond Center for Health at 10:30 a.m. Sunday and weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces. His parents are Amber Audet, 30, and Lawrence Audet III, 32. Baby Lawrence is Amber’s second child and Lawrence’s first.
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