City’s 1st 2000 Baby Goes Home in Style

Meagan Martin needed a ride to the hospital just after the new year. That’s because her husband, Billy, was at work and many of the rest of the family were ringing in the new year with champagne.

So when Martin went into labor more than two weeks early, her mother-in-law asked a neighbor to take the expectant mother and company to Simi Valley Hospital.

“We were a bit tipsy,” Adel Martin said. “We all were at my house doing the whole toasting thing at midnight.”

Billy Martin, a rookie with the Los Angeles Police Department, was on duty at the time in the San Fernando Valley. His father, Bill Martin, an LAPD sergeant, was also on duty.

The 25-year-old expectant mother was in labor for about 12 hours before giving birth to William Francis Martin IV, Simi Valley’s first baby of the new millennium, at 1:43 p.m. Saturday.

The 6-pound, 12-ounce baby received an official proclamation Monday morning from Simi Valley Mayor Bill Davis, welcoming the city’s newest resident of the third millennium.

To celebrate, Simi Valley Hospital, together with 31 local businesses and organizations, donated gifts, services and a head start on diapers, wet wipes and cigars to the Martin family.

The mother’s hospital room was stuffed with balloons, candy, plants and gift bags from Albertsons, Trader Joe’s and Baskets ‘N’ Bows.

The family, including 2 1/2-year-old sister C.J., also got a ride home Monday from the hospital in a white stretch limousine.

Even if William IV was not the county’s first baby--that was Benjamin Esensten, born at 2:05 a.m. Saturday at Ojai Valley Hospital--staff members at the hospital’s maternity unit prepared last week by arranging the donations from businesses.

Tammy Grodt, a licensed vocational nurse, headed the efforts to make the first Simi Valley Hospital arrival for the new year extra special.