When Keiry and Jocsan of Haines City headed out to celebrate the holidays at a Christmas Eve party, they didn’t know the night would end with them receiving the best gift ever. Little Maia arrived ahead of schedule at 3:52 Christmas morning, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measuring 20 inches long.

“We were preparing for her birth and I was scheduled to deliver on the 28^th. Honestly, I never thought we would have a Christmas baby,” Keiry said.

At 8 p.m. Keiry began feeling early labor pains. “Our friends told us we better start heading to the hospital since they knew we were delivering in Lake Nona. My contractions continued and when they were consistently 5-6 minutes apart, we began driving and arrived at midnight,” she said.

The couple made the decision early in their pregnancy to make the nearly one-hour drive to deliver at UCF Lake Nona Hospital because they heard other moms share their positive stories about the boutique birth experience at the nearly four-year-old HCA Florida Healthcare hospital. “My sister delivered here last year and had a great experience,” Keiry said, “plus I have other friends who also told me the care here is excellent.”

“We’ve also had a great experience. All the nurses have been good, everyone has been wonderful and the steak we had for our celebration meal was delicious!”

The couple are already in love with their surprise Christmas gift and are grateful for her timing. Smiling at Maia, Keiry said, “It’s Christmas – I guess she couldn’t wait!”