Making an entrance

After 11 hours of labor and eight days past her due date, one Warrenton mother gave birth to Culpeper’s first baby of the New Year.

Not to mention the first baby born at the only certified “baby-friendly” hospital in Virginia.

Jessica Cochlin, 31, and fiancée Cyrus Fiel, 19, of Warrenton, welcomed son Zakary Damien Fiel at 6:30 p.m. Thursday after checking in at Culpeper Regional Hospital at 7:30 that morning.

“There were cheers coming out of that room,” said Becky Bradshaw, director of CRH’s Family Birth Center.

Due Christmas Eve, Cochlin arrived at CRH Thursday ready to induce labor, but learned upon arriving she was already three centimeters dilated. Eleven hours later, Zakary arrived.

Nurses and doctors presented the family with a special gift for being the first baby of 2009: a large gift basket filled with diapers and clothing and a handmade quilt, made by hospital staff. Bradshaw, who has been at CRH for about eight months, said she hoped the donated items from the community became an annual tradition for the year’s first baby.

Cochlin said Zakary’s aunts, uncles, grandparents and his new brother, Xavier, 8, were on hand to greet him. With a full head of dark brown hair and weighing in at seven pounds, 11 ounces, Zakary seemed content in his mother’s arms Friday morning.

“He’s very good,” Cochlin said. “He was already trying to hold his head up last night. Not even a day old.”

Zakary was the only baby born at CRH Jan. 1, though he faced some competition in being named first baby of the year. Cochlin said around 4 p.m. two other mothers checked in, but she had a head start.

“It was kind of a race to do it,” she said, smiling as she looked at her new son. “It was more of an incentive then.”

The couple originally could not settle on a name for their son, but after a name game at her baby shower in November, they agreed upon Zakary.

Hospital President and CEO Lee Kirk stopped by Friday to congratulate the family as well.

“Well, life has just changed,” Kirk said, making a point to ask about their experience in the Family Birth Center, recently recognized as the only “baby-friendly” hospital in the commonwealth.
“That speaks to the exceptional nursing and doctor care in Culpeper,” he said.

Catherine Amos can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 138 or .