Birth launches Houston family into seventh heaven
Carlos Zurita of Houston holds his daughter, Yana, who was born at 7:17 p.m. on 7-17-17.
Sarah Zurita of Houston holds her daughter, Yana, who was born at 7:17 p.m. on 7-17-17.
A first-time mother-to-be, Sarah Zurita wasn’t rooting for a lengthy labor. But as the hours passed, she mused upon her amusement.
“My due date was the 16th, and I started having contractions at 5:30 that day,” she said, reflecting back to a Sunday evening that – for her – was equal parts anxiety and eager anticipation at Washington Hospital.
“As the labor progressed into the 17th, we thought it would be pretty cool to have our baby on 7/17/17,” Sarah continued. “Then, as the day went on, I said it would be really cool if we gave birth at 7:17. My mother and husband said they hope it doesn’t go that long.”
It did.
Shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, aware of Sarah’s “pretty cool” proposition, Dr. Kathryn Simons sneaked quick glances at the clock as she prepared to deliver Yana Zurita to the world.
“The doctor was telling me to push,” Sarah recalled, “and she said, ‘I think it will be 7:17.'”
Having their first child was already going to be seventh heaven for Sarah and Carlos Zurita of Houston. But not even a ridiculously fortuitous alignment of stars could have foretold this infant – any infant anywhere – would arrive on 7/17/17 at 7:17. And weigh 7/17.
“We were told the baby was 8 pounds, 1 ounce,” Sarah said. “My husband immediately converted that, saying it’s 7 pounds and 17 ounces.”
She related this serendipitous set of coincidences Wednesday afternoon, as Carlos drove the three of them home from the hospital. All were well, Sarah said. “I’m a little sore, but that comes with the turf.”
Sarah did not realize it, but she could have ended up a little less sore, with a similar outcome, if she had delivered two hours earlier Monday. A 5:17 p.m. birth would have translated to a military time of 17:17.
As nurse manager for obstetrics and women’s health at the hospital, Leslie Gostick has experienced a number of remarkable occurrences. But nothing, she recalled, matches this.
“I wasn’t here (when Yana Zurita was born), but the staff called me at home because it was so cool,” she said. “I talked with the family the next morning and told them how unusual these circumstances were.”
“Every baby is special, but to have all of this tied to the baby makes this even more incredible.”
The Zuritas are a happy lot, to be sure — a former Canonsburg girl, an engineer from Bolivia and their distinctive little child.
The mother is a Canon-McMillan graduate known previously as Sarah Grudevich. She is a global services director for CompuCom Systems, working remotely for the Plano, Texas-based firm. Carlos is a native of Cochabamba, Bolivia – which his spouse refers to as “the Canonsburg of South America.”
Carlos came to America in 2001 for an engineering internship with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in Harrisburg. He was a PennDOT employee for several years, moved to Western Pennsylvania a decade ago and is now an engineer at the Pittsburgh headquarters of EQT Corp., the company that recently agreed to buy Southpointe-based Rice Energy.
Home wasn’t the only place where the family planned to stop Wednesday. A Powerball drawing was hours ahead, and it was prudent to press their luck.
“We will definitely play the lottery,” Sarah said, laughing. “We can’t pass that up. We’ll try a couple of combinations.”
Starting with 7, 17 …