Baby misses due date by week to be Franklin County's first born in 2012
Welcome: Chelsea McClure and Jonathan Bard of Chambersburg hold their daughter, Ciara Emma-Rose Bard. Born at 1:32 a.m. Sunday in Chambersburg Hospital, Ciara is the first baby born in Franklin County in 2012.
Chelsea McClure and Jonathan Bard of Chambersburg welcomed their healthy little girl at 1:32 a.m. Sunday, weighing 7 pounds, 15.3 ounces and measuring 21 inches long.
Although her due date was set for Dec. 26, McClure had hoped for a holiday baby but was ready to be induced on Jan. 3 when her due date passed.
"I was hoping that my whole pregnancy," she said. "I was hoping for a Christmas baby. I wanted that so bad for nine months."
When Ciara was born on New Year's Day though, McClure said she wasn't expecting it but still extremely excited.
"I was thrilled. I really wanted it," she said.
The baby's first name was chosen after Bard's mother picked a bunch of names and both McClure and Bard agreed on Ciara.
They also agreed that Emma-Rose sounded good together as a middle name for Ciara, McClure said.
This is the second child for McClure, who has another little girl that is 17 months old, she said.
McClure hopes that the girls'! close a ges will lead them to be good friends and sisters over the years.
"My sister and I are really close in age. We're extremely close, so I think they'll get along well," she said. "Of course, they'll fight like we do, but they'll get along."
In addition, her older sister has a little girl born between McClure's two children, so she hopes their entire
extended family will be close.This pregnancy was different from her first, causing her more problems with her back and leading her to get an epidural during labor, she said.
"It was a lot more difficult," she said. "The two pregnancies were completely different."
Over the coming year, McClure has the same hopes as any other mother -- to raise her girls well and teach them what they need to know in life.
"I just want to be a good mother," she said "I want them to have good morals."
----------
Samantha Cossick can be reached at scossick@publicopinionnews.com and 262-4762 or follow her on Twitter at @SCossickPO.