Rockdale Citizen

Travis and Tangela Kimber welcome Andrew Charles Kimber into the world as the first newborn of 2012 at Rockdale Medical Center. at 12:18 a.m. on New Year's Day and weighed 6 lbs., 5 ounces and 20 inches.

CONYERS — Travis and Tangela Kimber welcomed Andrew Charles Kimber into the world as the first newborn of 2012 at Rockdale Medical Center at 12:18 a.m. on New Year’s Day. The baby weighed 6 lbs., 5 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Travis said his son is a quiet baby. “He’s very laid back. You’ll walk down the hallway here and hear other babies crying, but not this one.”

The Kimbers live in Lithonia and are educators — Travis is the band director at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Lithonia and Tangela is an assistant principal at Druid Hills High School in Decatur.

Tangela Kimber said they did not try to plan a New Year’s Day birth. Andrew Charles, named for each of his grandfathers, was the only one who knew when it was time.

“We though it was a false alarm because Jan. 21 was the due date,” she said. Tangela added that the timing of Andrew’s arrival was good in that she was on Christmas break from school. She had planned to return to work this week.

Dr. Veronica Garrett of New Beginnings Comprehensive Women’s Healthcare in Conyers delivered Andrew. RMC spokeswoman Marsha Terry said Friday was very busy for The Birth Place with 11 couples admitted for childbirth.

The time of arrival for Rockdale’s first baby of the year Sunday was the earliest in recent memory. Terry quizzed members of the Atlanta media to see if RMC had beaten any other area hospitals.

Several media outlets reported a Suwanee couple welcomed a girl at the stroke of midnight at Northside Hospital in Atlanta.

The Kimbers, who met as students at Southwest DeKalb High School, said they are fortunate to have family living close by. Plans are to have the grandparents take turns caring for Andrew when Tangela returns to work.

“We have 10 family members within 10 miles from where we live,” Travis said.

Asked if they plan to have any more children, Travis said yes, while Tangela was not quite as enthusiastic.

The Kimbers have a daughter, Angela, who is 19 months old and was also born at RMC’s The Birth Place.

“It’s a family with a lot of girls, and I grew up with brothers, so I want him to have someone to play with,” Travis said. “There will be some roughhousing with us.”

The couple said they will consider adopting a child as a compromise. “We’ll play it by ear and see what happens,” said Tangela.