While the world was busy marking the advent of 2025 with fanfare and fireworks, Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids had its celebration with the birth of the first baby of the New Year. At precisely 12:11 a.m, Daevon Jr. made his entrance, tipping the scales at 6 pounds, 11 ounces. His arrival was a mere 11 minutes post-midnight, just one day shy of his due date, and forever stamped as the year's inaugural birth. This news, as detailed in the report WZZM 13, made clear Corewell Health's significant role in welcoming new lives into the world.
The proud parents, Daevon Sr. and ArNaja, were to not only celebrate their son's birth but also receive a bountiful "New Years baby basket," generously assembled by the Butterworth Hospital's Labor and Delivery Unit. As tradition holds at the hospital, each year the staff contributes to this special gift for the first baby of the New Year. "For the staff in the delivery unit at Butterworth Hospital, a New Year baby is special," Andrea Finnigan noted in a statement obtained by FOX 17.
Not to be overshadowed by the celebrations in Grand Rapids, Holland Hospital announced the arrival of their own New Year's baby - the first for their Boven Birth Center. At 2:19 a.m., baby Cohen was born, weighing a robust 9 pounds, 5 ounces, and measuring 21.75 inches, as proudly reported by WOODTV. Cohen is the third child and third son in his family, arriving to the joy of parents Courtney and Mitch. "Join us in congratulating this family on their precious bundle!" Holland Hospital said in a release.
Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital is noted not simply for their first baby of 2025, but for their role as the busiest maternity ward in Michigan. With around 8,000 babies delivered in a year, the hospital sees enough births to "fill out a single kindergarten class" daily according to WOODTV.
