Meet McHenry County’s First Baby of the New Year

After a low-key New Year’s Eve playing cards with friends, Karel Roth and Greg Roth didn’t get to go to sleep. The Wonder Lake couple instead drove to Centegra Hospital-Huntley where Karel delivered McHenry County’s first baby of the year, their son, Korben Scott Roth.

Korben was born at 5:34 a.m. and weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long, according to a news release from Centegra Health System.

Karel Roth said she and her husband timed her contractions throughout the evening as they enjoyed the night with friends. Just after 1 a.m., they knew their four-year-old daughter, Leanne, was about to become a big sister.

Roth told the story of Korben’s birth as she snuggled her newborn, who was quiet as he checked out his new surroundings.

“He’s been really good since he was born,” she said. “So far, he’s very content.”

Greg Roth said Leanne’s first visit with her little brother went well.

“At first she said, ‘I just want to look,’” he said. “After about 15 minutes she wanted to hold him.”

While Korben’s birth brought excitement to his parents and the team at Centegra Hospital-Huntley, he was not the first baby to be born in their extended family this week. Korben was the third baby born in six days, with one cousin being born at Centegra Hospital-Huntley on Monday and another cousin’s birth on Wednesday, according to the news release.

The parents said they look forward to learning more about Korben’s personality as they watch he and his sister grow up.

At Centegra Hospital-McHenry, the first baby of 2017 was Freyja Ann Dimmick, who was born at 9:56 a.m. Jan. 1 to parents Letiesha Dimmick and Matthew Petersen of Woodstock. Freyja weighed 8 pounds and was 20.5 inches long, according to the Centegra news release.