1/10/08

Clarendon Memorial welcomes first baby of 2008 – DéJah Wright
By Cathy Gilbert

CATHY GILBERT/Manning Times

Mom Jasmine Hagen and Dad Demond Wright brought Clarendon County’s first baby of 2008 in the form of their daughter, DéJah Wright. She was born at 3:57 a.m. New Year’s Day.

Christmas was a little bit late this year for Jasmine Hagen and Demond Wright, but when it came it was the perfect size and shape and fit just perfectly.

The couple, along with the staff of Clarendon Memorial Hospital, welcomed the first baby of 2008, when little DéJah Wright was born at 3:57 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Both parents, age 24, are from Sumter. Little DéJah was delivered by Dr. Ronald Dennis, a Sumter obstetrician who delivers at CMH.

Baby DéJah made her premiere performance weighing a petite 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 18.5 inches long.

Mom Jasmine, for whom DéJah is her first born, said her labor lasted about eight hours.

“I got the epidural at midnight and by 3:57, she was here,” Hagen said.

The couple agreed that the experience was a good one.

“Everyone is so friendly here,” said dad Demond Wright. “We would definitely come here again.”

Mom Jasmine is a fulltime student in Health Science at Morris College. She hopes to become a nurse, working in either pediatrics or labor and delivery. Dad Demond is an aspiring graphic designer.

Ironically, DéJah is the first Wright granddaughter born in the last 34 years. For a family who only seems to produce boys, the Wright’s newest princess will truly be a treasure.

Hagen and Wright enjoyed their complimentary candlelit dinner provided by the hospital staff on Jan. 2 and were expected to return home to Sumter on Jan. 4.

The couple must have been very good in 2007, because Santa brought them the best gift of all for a week-late Christmas.