For Alicia and Carlos Alvarez, the world revolves around their daughters, and they named their new baby accordingly: Sol, Spanish for sun.
But for little Sol Celeste, the stars truly aligned because she was born at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center shortly after 1 p.m. April 8 during the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse.
“We named her sister Luna, so I wanted a name that was going to bind them together,” Alicia Alvarez says. “And with her dad being Hispanic, that was significant. But to have her born during the eclipse was so special because she wasn’t due for another week.”
Delivering her baby at Methodist Mansfield, however, was by design.
“I had Luna here, too,” Alicia says. “I knew I had to go to the same hospital because everybody was so nice. The nurses here, they get you. They really care. It was an amazing experience.”
A WEEK EARLY
When 4-year-old Luna was born, Alicia lived in Mansfield, but she now lives in Fort Worth with Carlos, an Army veteran who served three tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
So when Alicia’s contractions started about 4 a.m., she and her husband knew they had a 90-minute drive to get to the hospital.
“I thought we’d take some time because we weren’t due until April 17,” Carlos says.
But as the family arrived at Methodist Mansfield, and the clock ticked toward noon, the realization began to dawn on them.
“I was like, oh my God, it’s happening,” Alicia says. “I could hear people outside watching and yelling.”
Carlos added: “And then it turned out to be right on time. So that was really shocking.”
Registered Nurse Natalie Fylstra was there for Luna’s birth, too, but this delivery would be different, and not just because Alicia’s doctor Carolyn Kollar, DO, OB-GYN on the medical staff, was not on call that day and would not be there to deliver Sol, like she had with Luna.
“It was insane,” Natalie recalls. “I was like, ‘You’re about to have a baby in the middle of the day, and it’s dark outside.’”
A STAR IS BORN
Sol Celeste Alvarez was born at 1:04 p.m., weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces, just in time for Mom and the rest of the family to witness the total eclipse about a half hour later.
“We got to watch through the window,” Alicia says.
But Alicia and the rest of the family were far more interested in the star of the show inside than the spectacle outside.
“She’s going to do great things for the world,” says proud grandmother Linda Lewis, who suspects divine intervention brought the baby ahead of schedule.
As for all the attention their new baby has received, Alicia and her husband are taking it in stride. And when the spotlight fades, baby Sol and her sister Luna will still mean the world to them: the moon, the stars, and the sun.
“It’s continuous love,” Alicia says. “My sun goes down, and my moon comes up.”
Connect With Methodist