Las Cruces welcomes Graciela and Josiah, the first babies of 2024

Leah Romero, Las Cruces Sun-News
·2 min read

Las Cruces hospitals welcomed the first babies born on Jan. 1, 2024 – Graciela and Josiah.

Graciela “Gracie” Santana Ramirez was born first at 10:20 a.m. at MountainView Regional Medical Center weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces. The hospital reports that Gracie’s parents, Leilani and Jason Ramirez, are doing well.

Graciela “Gracie” Santana Ramirez is the first baby born on Jan. 1, 2024 at MountainView Regional Medical Center in Las Cruces.
Graciela “Gracie” Santana Ramirez is the first baby born on Jan. 1, 2024 at MountainView Regional Medical Center in Las Cruces.

Later in the afternoon at Memorial Medical Center, Alexis and Chris Posada welcomed Josiah Angelo Posada into the world. Josiah was born at 2:58 p.m. weighing 5 pounds 9 ounces.

Alexis Posada explained that she was scheduled for a labor induction at 9 a.m. Jan. 1 so she could deliver vaginally, but the baby was still in a breech position. Performing an external cephalic version (ECV) procedure to manually turn the baby while still in utero was an option, but Posada said the risks associated with the procedure did not make sense for her.

Josiah was instead delivered via cesarean section in the afternoon.

Josiah Angelo Posada is the first baby born on Jan. 1, 2024 at Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces.
Josiah Angelo Posada is the first baby born on Jan. 1, 2024 at Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces.

Posada said she had hoped her baby would be born on Dec. 31, when his birthdate would have been 12/31/23.

“But then I just thought about like on New Year's Day, everybody's still going to be celebrating, so every year for his birthday the whole world’s celebrating,” she said.

Posada added that the name Josiah was one she always loved.

“Josiah has always been a name I’ve wanted since I was a little girl when I thought about the day becoming a mom. I always latched on to that name. And then, funny enough, the man that I ended up marrying, his best friend’s name was Josiah. He’s passed on now but it was kind of just a coincidence,” she said.

Chris Posada said his son is a blessing and the couple noted that the hospital helped to make the scary situation of a cesarean birth as comfortable as possible.

Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on X, formerly Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces welcomes first babies of 2024 — Graciela and Josiah