The first newborn on Long Island in 2024 arrived at South Shore University Hospital just moments past midnight, marking a joyous start to the year, according to a press release by Northwell Health.

 

A healthy baby girl named Kelsy Janel Reyes made her entrance at 12:10 a.m. in the Bay Shore facility.

 

Dora Lilian Mendez Henriquez, a first-time mother, endured a 10-hour labor. Rudy Reyes, Kelsy's father, recalled the hospital staff counting down to the new year in the delivery room. Shortly thereafter, weighing 6 pounds and 12 ounces, Kelsy came into the world.

 

Both 23-year-old Henriquez and 33-year-old Rudy originally hail from El Salvador and now reside in Central Islip.