Elgin’s first baby of 2025 took his time making his way into the world.
Labor started about 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve for his mother, Caitlyn Mahoney, 28, but Forrest Jeremiah Mahoney didn’t make his appearance until nearly 20 hours later at 3:55 p.m. New Year’s Day, according to Elgin’s Advocate Sherman Hospital.
“We were expecting it to possibly take longer. Our daughter, Lorelei, took 36 hours,” said Mahoney, a Crystal Lake resident. “If he had been born on Jan. 2, he would have been born on the same day as his namesake, his great-great-grandfather Forrest.”
That Forrest was a war hero who received multiple Purple Hearts, she said. His middle name come from his Great Uncle Jeremiah, who she said is remembered as being an intelligent and humorous person.
This Forrest weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces at birth and was 21 inches long. His parents said he has very long toes.
Caitlyn is a registered behavior technician at By Your Side Autism Therapy Services. Her husband, Ryan, also 28, works as a software engineer at Motorola Solutions.
Their 3-year-old has already given her sibling a nickname.
“We did a video call, and she called Forrest ‘My Shiny Brother,’ Caitlyn Mahoney said. “We look forward to seeing her first in-person meeting with him.”
As has been the tradition, Forrest and his family received gifts in honor of having the hospital’s first baby of the year. They were given a diaper cake that included toys, clothing and stuffed animals by the hospital and a new outfit by the delivery team, according to hospital spokesman Andrew Smith.
New Year’s babies tend to arrive in the early morning hours but newborns rarely watch the clock when deciding they’re ready to make their debut, a charge nurse said. “That’s the nature of labor of labor and delivery,” she said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
