As revelers welcomed the new year, Natasha Henderson started to push.
And nine minutes after midnight, little Lucas Allen came into the world.
Lucas was the first baby born in the city of Chicago in 2015, according to a poll of local hospitals.
“He’s a Chicago superstar,” said Barry Allen, 34, the boy’s father.
His proud parents beamed Thursday at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.
Sleeping in his mother’s arms, he had a shock of dark hair and wore a tiny red shirt that said “Little Guy.”
Lucas Allen was born at 12:09 a.m. on New Year’s Day at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center. | Michael Schmidt/Sun-Times
He wasn’t due until Jan. 5, said Henderson, 33.
On Wednesday, Henderson started feeling pain. She was in labor for eight hours, she said.
And at 12:03 a.m., she started pushing. Six minutes later, Lucas was born.
He weighed seven pounds, 10 ounces.
“I had no idea he would come today,” said Henderson, a stay-at-home mom. She and Allen, a landscaper, have a family of two daughters, 11 and 1, and a son, 8. The family lives in Woodlawn on the city’s South Side.
Adding Lucas to the mix of birthdays and holidays means “I got to do a lot of landscaping this year,” Allen said.
And dad had a message for Lucas, who faces a lifetime of birthdays surrounded by New Year’s Eve partying:
“Sit down, son,” he said. “None of that!”
Contributing: Jordan Owen
