‘A fun surprise’: Granby family welcomes Isla Veronica McCarthy as Hampshire County’s 1st baby born at Baystate in 2025
Published: 01-06-2025 3:21 PM
Modified: 01-06-2025 6:56 PM |
SPRINGFIELD — While the country celebrated the New Year with fireworks, champagne and sparklers, one Granby family started 2025 with an even greater milestone: a new addition to their growing family.
Isla Veronica McCarthy, Hampshire County’s first baby born at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, arrived at 5:18 a.m. on Jan. 1. Parents Danielle White and Jordan McCarthy had been waiting for their new arrival since White’s due date on Dec. 19, so having a New Year’s Day baby “was a fun surprise,” White said.
“She really took her time picking the day, and she took her time coming out, too,” White said.
McCarthy had just picked up the family’s New Year’s Eve Chinese meal when White went into active labor at 5 p.m. The couple spent 12 hours in the hospital, accompanied by their first child part of the time — who also has a holiday birthday on St. Patrick’s Day.
“Her (Isla’s) big brother is very interested in her,” White said.
In addition to her older brother, Isla has many teenage cousins, who met her at the hospital, and some cousins around her age who are all in Massachusetts. White said her mother and two of her three sisters live in Hampshire County, while her other sister and her husband’s siblings live in eastern Massachusetts. Regardless of the distance, White continued, her family is more than happy to help with whatever the parents need. McCarthy, however, remains White’s biggest helper.
“He’s a great dad,” White said. “He’s a really big part of what makes our house work already.”
White and McCarthy are both teachers at different districts. McCarthy works at Amherst Regional High School, and White teaches at Donahue Elementary School in Holyoke. But with the arrival of her second child, White has decided to take a step back from teaching to spend more time with her children while they’re young. She hopes to run a home day care when her newborn is a bit older.
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“I just want to be able to be home with them while they’re young, especially if we have a third,” White said.
Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.