Area's first baby also family's first girl

CNJ staff photo: Liliana Castillo Alex and Anna Barraz welcomed their first daughter Yvette Barraz into the world at 3:50 a.m. Saturday, making her the first baby born in Clovis in 2011.

The first baby born in Clovis in 2011 was Clovis residents Alex and Anna Barraz’ first daughter.

Yvette Barraz was born at 3:50 a.m. Saturday. She weighed 8 pounds and 7 ounces.

Anna Barraz, 26, said her due date was Jan. 1, but she expected to give birth a week late, as she had with her three sons. When her water broke late Friday, she waited to go to the hospital so her first daughter could be born in 2011.

“That’s cool,” Anna Barraz said of her daughter being the first baby of the new year. “It makes her special. She’s our first girl and the first baby of the year.”

The mother is a home care worker with Options Home Care Services and the father is in construction with Lopez and Sons Construction.

Alex Barraz, 28, was all smiles and couldn’t keep his eyes off his daughter.

“I’m just happy she’s here,” he said.

The couple said they always planned to have a big family, but four children is enough.

“We’ve always been wanting a girl,” Anna Barraz said as her husband fawned over their daughter. “We just hope she grows up to be happy and whatever she wants to be.”

The couple’s three sons, 9-year-old Joseph, 6-year-old Nathaniel and 4-year-old Julian, hadn’t been in to see their new sister yet because they stayed up late to ring in the new year.

“They’ve been looking forward to having a sister,” Anna Barraz said.