By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – When Montevallo resident Tempestt Owens arrived at Alabaster’s Shelby Baptist Medical Center on Dec. 31, she certainly wasn’t thinking about becoming famous.

“I was in so much pain, I wasn’t paying attention to any of that,” Owens said with a laugh during a Jan. 4 interview.

Owens arrived at the Shelby Baptist Medical Center Women’s Center at about 11:45 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. About an hour later, she and Weston Haynes welcomed their child, Weston Earl Haynes, into the world.

Baby Weston, who weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 19-and-one-fourth-inches long when he was born, will forever have the distinction of being the first baby born in Shelby County in 2016.

Because their baby wasn’t due until Jan. 4, Owens and Haynes didn’t put much thought into their child becoming a landmark at the hospital.

“I wasn’t supposed to have him for a few days, but he wanted to come early,” Owens said. “When we got to the hospital, it was kind of a ghost town.”

After Owens delivered baby Weston, Owens’ nurse delivered some good – albeit unexpected – news.

“I had an awesome nurse that was so sweet,” Owens said. “She came in and told me ‘You are lucky, and I’m lucky to be your nurse, because you just had the first baby at Shelby in 2016.’ I was very shocked when I heard that.”

On Jan. 4 – Her baby’s original due date – Owens and baby Weston were at home in Montevallo, and were doing well.

“It was definitely a blessing,” she said.