GILBERT, Arizona (January 1, 2021) – A Valley family is celebrating the new year with the greatest possible gift -- a healthy newborn baby -- arriving almost immediately at the stroke of midnight.

Just 14 seconds after the clock struck 12:00 a.m., a Gilbert mom gave birth to beautiful Avery Laine Wesolowski at Banner Gateway Medical Center.

Avery Laine weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces as she came into the world through natural delivery.

Her mom, Jamie Wesolowski, 29, and dad, Justin Wesolowski, 31, are excited to soon introduce the newborn to her brother, 11-year-old Jagger.

“2020 was such an incredibly rough year for everyone, and a baby born right at midnight to ring in the near year brings so much hope for all of us,” said nurse Marci Judkins in the Women and Infant Services unit at Banner Gateway.

While little Avery did enter the world extremely early just after midnight, we can't confirm if she is the first baby born in 2021 in the Valley or Arizona.  

Note to reporters: The family is available for phone and video interviews this morning. Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, media is not permitted in our hospitals. If you’d like to arrange an interview, please let us know.