A second-time mother and father became proud parents of Albert Lea’s Baby New Year on Friday, four days into 2013.

Delivered by obstetrician Jodi Schulz, little Jaycelyn Gissell Viera was born at 3:48 a.m. Friday at The Baby Place in Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and was 21 inches long.

The daughter of Joselin Espinoza and Jonathan Viera of Albert Lea, Jaycelyn joins a brother, Jonathan, who is 2.

“She’s precious,” her father said.

Espinoza said she initially thought she would deliver the baby on Thursday. She had gone into the doctor and was dilated to five centimeters but was sent home to wait for further progress.

She said she began having contractions at 10 p.m. that night, arrived at the hospital a second time at 11:40 p.m. and then four hours later, little Jaycelyn was born.

The labor was much shorter than with the couple’s first child, Jonathan, who Espinoza estimated she was in labor with for more than 24 hours.

“This was fast,” she said.

Jaycelyn’s due date was Jan. 6.

Espinoza said she and Viera, who both work at Albert Lea Select Foods, were surprised to find out their daughter was the New Year’s baby.

Though Jaycelyn had been sleeping most of the day since she was born, Espinoza said she can already tell that Jaycelyn looks a lot like Viera, with the same nose and lips.

The rest of her family, including their son, was planning to come in and see the baby Friday night.

The family, who moved to Albert Lea from Los Angeles a year ago, received a bouquet of flowers with a balloon and a gift bag of items for the new baby from The Baby Place nurses.

Four hundred babies were born in The Baby Place in 2012.

Albert Lea’s Baby New Year stats

Jaycelyn Gissell Viera
Born: 3:48 a.m. Friday
Weight: 7 pounds, 12 ounces
Height: 21 inches
Eye color: brown
Hair color: black
Parents: Joselin Espinoza and Jonathan Viera of Albert Lea