At a little more than 24 hours old, Adalynn Toruga provided a concert proclaiming her displeasure with having her diaper changed as her mom, Elizabeth Bustillos, and dad, Adan Toruga, of Hobbs, prepared to take her home.
Young Adalynn is the first baby of both the new year and the new decade at Lea Regional Medical Center. She is the first baby born in Lea County on Jan. 1, 2020 at 2:30am.
Adan deftly placed a pacifier in Adalynn’s mouth, ending the concert and producing a contented little girl. Elizabeth put a bright pink onesie on the 6-pound, 13-ounce baby and wrapped her in a fluffy pink blanket adorned with entwined gold hearts.
“Finally, we got a girl,” Elizabeth murmured as she smiled at her youngest child. Her labor took around 5 hours Elizabeth added.
Her oldest child, a 6-year old boy named Adan, slept through his baby sister’s wails and the adults’ conversation. He was sleeping on the recliner where his father spent the night so he could help Elizabeth with the new baby.
“Her other brother, Adiel, is too young to stay,” Elizabeth said.
Maternity ward nurse Taryn Neuer said the family had to wait until the pediatrician came before they could leave.
“The doctor has to say Adalynn is healthy,” Neuer said as she smiled at the baby.
When the family went home, they took with them a gift basket and two LRMC bags with baby gifts valued at more than $250.
The gifts include diapers, wipes, baby friendly bathing soaps and lotions, blankets, clothes, toys and special Lea Regional animals.