Fergus Falls couple welcomes New Years Day baby at Sanford Medical Center

"It feels good. It's exciting. Yeah, it's a good way to start 2021 for sure."

FARGO, N.D.- 2021 is already off to a good start for a Fergus Falls couple who welcomed a son at Sanford Family Birth Center in Fargo on New Year’s Day.

“I’m John Walvatne, this is my wife Ahna and this is our new little man Asher John.”

As the world celebrated the new year, a Fergus Falls couple welcomed an early surprise that has already made 2021 an even better year than 2020.

That unexpected surprise was Asher John Walvatne who was born at 11:18 this morning.

“It feels good. It’s exciting. Yeah, it’s a good way to start 2021 for sure,” Ahna Walvatne said.

His due date was originally January 6th, but Asher had other plans and the new parents welcomed it.

“It’s a good, good step to starting the new year right,” Ahna said.

The couple says they really wanted to expand their family and give their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter a sibling.

They were hesitant to try for a second baby amidst the pandemic.

“We just figured we wouldn’t put our lives on hold forever, and we didn’t know how long it would be so, we went for it and now we have Asher,” John said.

Ahna says the experience of being pregnant during the pandemic was different. Especially if compared to her first pregnancy.

“Went to doctor’s appointments with one visitor for most of them, but yeah, it was interesting, trying to stay as healthy as possible,” Ahna said.

And for 2021, the new parents say they just want to be able to have more family outings, especially with the new addition to the family.

“Maybe seeing outside of the walls of our own home with them would be nice,” John said.