Ruby Rings In New Year at 12:01

ORANGE — As the radio announcer counted down the seconds to the new year and Claudia Barajas pressed the button releasing pain medicine through her arm, her ecstatic husband jumped for joy and the doctor and nurses whooped out loud.

“Everybody was screaming, ‘Yeah! We made it! It’s 1997,’ ” Barajas’ husband, Jesus, said, recalling the birth of his daughter at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

Ruby Barajas became Orange County’s first baby of 1997. She was born at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. Dr. Monica Aszterbaum delivered the 6-pound, 9-ounce, 19 1/2-inch-long girl.

Her birth by caesarean section--the baby was in breech position--was scheduled for Friday, not New Year’s Day.

“I started getting labor pains [Tuesday] and my water broke at 9:30 p.m.,” a sleepy Claudia Barajas, 23, said. She said that once labor began, the delivery was neither speeded up nor slowed down to result in the well-timed birth.

“I wasn’t expecting to give birth three days early, but everything just happened and it was spontaneous. . . . Now my first baby is the first born in this whole county. It’s so wonderful.”

Ruby’s timely arrival made her an instant celebrity. Among her visitors Wednesday were news crews, newspaper photographers, reporters, her paternal grandfather, an aunt, several cousins and friends.

Coincidentally, Ruby’s birthday falls in the same month as both her Mom, Jan. 28, and Dad, Jan. 12.

There were plenty of oohs and ahs from the nurses as they tended to the dark-haired baby. The hospital is planning some kind of event for the Santa Ana family.

“I was so excited when Ruby was being born,” said Jesus Barajas, 22, who works at a gas station and a plastic factory and plays drums in a Latin band. “What better way to start the new year, with life.”

“It’s just so beautiful,” said his wife, who used to sing in his band. She said she hopes the baby will be a singer too.

“Mostly though, I want her to be healthy and I pray to God to help us raise and educate her,” she said.