First babies of 2023 born at Chicago-area hospitals

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Mere minutes after many welcomed the new year with cheers and colorful skies, Rayven Mitchell and Tomas Jones welcomed their own little bright firework.

"Happy, memorable... something that I'll never forget," Jones described.

Londynn Jones made her world debut to the first-time Crete parents at 12:10 a.m., becoming the first baby born in 2023 at Franciscan Health Dyer.

"Joy! Like 'it's finally over!' But seeing her face and hearing her cry..." Mitchell said.

Mitchell, who will be celebrating her own birthday in a few days, said her daughter's debut is the gift of a lifetime.

"It's a lot of emotions. At first I was happy, then to see her face made me kind of cry some more," Mitchell said.

Less than 20 minutes after London's arrival, across state lines, the cutest kind of New Year's noisemaker -- Aalora Vyas -- decided she didn't want to wait another week to be born.

'We got here at 11 p.m. and she was born at 12:37 a.m.," Lopa and Aashish Vyas said.

And just like that, Aalora became Advocate Health Care's first baby of the new year.

Her parents, Lopa and Aashish, said instead of counting down to the new year, the Lemont parents counted contractions at Good Samaritan Hospital.

"No, we did not do the countdown," they said. "I think one of the nurses told us, 'oh, by the way, Happy New Year, it's midnight.' We're like, 'oh really?!'"

These two new year adorable additions are bringing the same pride and joy to their parents had they been born any other day.

"I feel like she have a future ahead of her. She got big shoes to fill but we're her parents, so we'll help her do it," Jones said.

"We're really excited. It's a great way to ring in the new year," the Vyas said.

They now also have a bit of a story to tell for the rest of 2023.

"We probably would have been sleeping if she wasn't on her way," the Vyas laughted.