AUGUSTA \u2014 Jakob Everett Lewis wasn\u2019t due to be born until Feb. 1, but a couple days ago, his mother, Ashley Veinotte of Winslow, joked to her own mother that she was going to have the baby on New Year\u2019s Day.
\u201cI kept saying, \u2018No, you can\u2019t have that baby early,\u2019 \u201d said her mother, Sonia Veinotte.
But the joke was prescient: Ashley went into labor early Sunday. At 6:40 a.m., Jakob was born, becoming the first baby to be born at MaineGeneral Medical Center in 2017. At 5 pounds 3 ounces, he seemed healthy and was spending the rest of the day in the hospital\u2019s nursery, his mother said.
At noontime, Ashley was recovering in another part of the hospital with Sonia and the boy\u2019s father, Dakota Lewis, who is 20. It was the first baby for Ashley, who is 23, and all three were feeling very tired.
\u201cHe\u2019s doing well so far,\u201d Ashley said of her son. \u201cThey\u2019re keeping a close eye on him. I feel pretty good, considering how fast everything happened.\u201d
Then she added, \u201cIt\u2019s a little nerve-wracking. My anxiety was through the roof.\u201d
Ashley had got off work from an assisted living facility in Waterville late Saturday night, she said, and she and Dakota decided to go grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. They were walking through the bread aisle when she first felt herself going into labor.
After making a stop at their home in Winslow, they packed diapers into Dakota\u2019s Toyota RAV4 and left for the hospital despite the snow that was falling. At one point, the car almost got stuck.
\u201cThe snow was spitting down pretty hard,\u201d Dakota said. \u201cShe was in a lot of pain. She was screaming and grabbing my thigh.\u201d
They arrived at the hospital at 1:30 a.m., and Jakob was born just over five hours later.
\u201cI\u2019m very excited,\u201d said Dakota, who works for Pine State Trading Co. in Gardiner. Dakota has a 5-year-old son, Jude Lewis. \u201cHe\u2019s excited to meet his brother,\u201d Dakota said.
Sonia, who also lives in Winslow, eventually met the young couple at the hospital early Thursday, after clearing snow from her car.
\u201cI couldn\u2019t have done it without either of them,\u201d Ashley said, referring to Jakob and her mother.
Despite the warnings she made to her daughter a few days earlier, Sonia was also glowing about her first grandchild. When Ashley goes back to work, Sonia \u2013 or \u201cNana\u201d \u2013 will be looking after Jakob, she said.
\u201cHe\u2019s healthy and beautiful,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll take him, even on New Year\u2019s. This is the best New Year\u2019s Day gift I could be given.\u201d
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