Meet baby Yuriel, one of the first babies born in 2024 in Phoenix

PHOENIX - Phoenix hospitals are welcoming the first babies to be born in 2024.

We spoke with a mom whose baby boy was the very first to be born at St. Joseph's Hospital this year.

Baby Yuriel is now among the special group of what they call New Year's babies.

He was born at 12:24 this morning at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix – weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces.

Mom, Giselle Hernandez, says she arrived at the hospital late Saturday night and was expecting to welcome her firstborn on New Year's Eve.

She didn't expect labor to last 25 hours, so his actual birthday was a surprise.

She says despite the chaos happening outside the hospital with all the fireworks going off, baby Yuriel has been nothing but calm and quiet.

"He's been very calm, very calm. Doesn't really cry as often. I've been hearing babies around the unit and every baby is really loud and I feel like he's so quiet and doesn't cry as much," Hernandez said.

According to UNICEF, just over 10,000 babies are born across the country on Jan. 1.