Say hello to 2014’s first

Published 7:01 pm Saturday, January 4, 2014

William Kokoschke and Gabrial McBeain pose with their family, 1 1/2-year-old Catalina McBeain, Gabriel McBeain, 5, and, Arianna McBeain, the first baby born in Austin in 2014. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

William Kokoschke and Gabrial McBeain pose with their family, 1 1/2-year-old Catalina McBeain, Gabriel McBeain, 5, and, Arianna McBeain, the first baby born in Austin in 2014. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Had the little girl known anything about Minnesota winters, she would’ve waited a little longer. Had she done that, though, she also wouldn’t have been Austin’s first newborn of 2014.

At 7:27 p.m. Thursday, parents Gabrial McBeain and William Kokoschke of Austin greeted their new daughter, Arianna McBeain, at Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin.

Gabrial McBeain holds the newest addition to their family, Arianna McBeain, the first baby born in Austin in 2014. Eric Johnson/ photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Gabrial McBeain holds the newest addition to their family, Arianna McBeain, the first baby born in Austin in 2014. Eric Johnson/
photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Arianna joins two siblings — 1-year-old sister, Catalina McBeain, and 5-year-old brother, Gabriel McBeain — who are apparently just as excited to have a new family member.

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“My 5-year-old just loves having another baby,” Gabrial said.

Catalina, on the other hand, thinks Arianna is her baby, too.

“She just wanted to be holding her today when she had first seen her,” Gabrial said. “She cried when someone else took her.”

It may be much too early to tell if Arianna will take after her older sister, but the two have some similarities.

“They’re faces are exactly alike,” Gabrial said with excitement.

Of course, the joy of having a newborn outweighed any prospects of having the first child of the year. The parents had no clue their new daughter was going to be the first newborn in Austin and a mini-celebrity, of sorts — not until they heard nurses mention on Thursday a baby still hadn’t been born in the area.

“I actually didn’t think about this,” Gabrial said.

In the women’s special care unit, another little one wasn’t far behind.

“Someone else came and almost had their baby at the same time,” Gabrial said.

The most important record, though, is that Arianna is healthy: She weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces, measured 21.5 inches and is doing well.