First baby, it's Andi Rae
BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 years, 12 months AGO
<p>Jessica Barnhouse holds her baby girl Andi Rae who was the first baby born in 2013 Tuesday at Kootenai Medical Center.</p>
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | January 2, 2013 8:00 PM
COEUR d'ALENE - The due date for Matt and Jessica Barnhouse's baby was Dec. 26.
Didn't happen.
The Hayden couple went from hoping for a Christmas day birth to, well, any day. The sooner, the better.
New Year's seemed just fine, too.
"If we have to have any day, New Year's is a great day to have a baby," Jessica said. "It's a good birthday."
Wish granted.
The Barnhouses welcomed Andi Rae into their family at 12:43 p.m. Tuesday at Kootenai Medical Center. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and measured 20 and a half inches.
Forget the numbers, though, and forget that she was a little bit late.
Andi Rae, her parents said, was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
"We're happy. It's a girl," Jessica said.
"Everyone was pushing for a boy," Matt said. "But she's perfect."
Their dad loves everything about trucks and cars, and plans to share that passion with his daughters. Andi Rae has an older sister, 2-year-old Emma.
"Both of them will be tomboys," he said.
The Barnhouses arrived at KMC around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. A little more than five hours later, Andi Rae was born.
Matt praised the KMC staff.
"It went great. We couldn't have asked for anything better."
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