Destiny Shakespeare was not expecting her baby to arrive on New Year’s Day, but was waiting for it.
The woman from Hamburg, Berks County, had an expiration date of January 6th. His latest review on Monday, however, indicated other plans with Destiny dilated by 3 inches. On Tuesday at 2 a.m., she began to have contractions and told her mother, Lori Shakespeare, that at 9 a.m. it was time to go to the hospital.
A “practice” after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night at 10 inches dilated caused Destiny’s water to break. Then she learned that it was good that the New Year 2021 sounded like her first child: a girl.
“I was saying,‘ I want to have this baby (for New Year’s Eve), let’s do this, ’” Shakespeare said. “Everyone, all the nurses, were so supportive. It was exciting. “
Hope Louise Shakespeare was born on Wednesday at 12:00:30 a.m. at Lehigh Valley-Cedar Crest Hospital in Salisbury Township. It weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces. She was the first baby to give birth in the Lehigh Valley in 2021.
Shakespeare said with a laugh that he didn’t see the countdown as he pushed Hope into the world after 14 hours of work. The baby’s first name was chosen because Shakespeare said he wanted a name that went hand in hand with his first Destiny name. Destiny is a Latin name meaning “one’s destiny”, while Hope is an English name meaning “trust, faith”. The baby’s middle name, Louise, is Shakespeare’s paternal grandmother.
Hope is the tenth grandson of Destiny’s mother, Lori. Destiny Shakespeare, who grew up in the Hamburg area, is a graduate of Hamburg High School 2020. She plans to raise her son before embarking on a career as a medical assistant in the near future.
Another first baby of the new year arrived Wednesday at 4:40 a.m. in the Lehigh Valley. Ann and Jacob Atherly of Kunkletown, Monroe County, welcomed a daughter, Leah Elizabeth, to the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg campus in Bethlehem.
St. John’s University Hospital Luke of Fountain Hill was born Wednesday at 4:20 p.m., however, that family refused to make his name public, said Marissa Lewicki, a hospital spokeswoman.
Trish Hrina, a spokeswoman for the hospital, had not had any New Year’s Eve parties at 2 p.m.
Pamela Sroka-Holzmann can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.