The Exciting Delivery of the Desert’s First Baby of 2023

"I remember opening my eyes slightly and seeing all the traffic going in front of us," Mom Brenda Benitez shared. "I’m like, ‘Oh my God,’ just holding on to everything and trying to yell and cuss. It was something else." It’s a New Year’s celebration these local parents will never forget. "We weren’t really expecting her, especially on New Year’s," Benitez continued. "She still had 10 more days to come." Parents Brenda Benitez and Miguel Mendoza were planning for baby Mikayla’s arrival on January 10th, but this little one was determined to begin 2023 with a bang. "She made her grand entrance on New Year’s and it was quite a shocker for us," she said. And a grand entrance, it was. "We were planning to do a little celebration. We’re thinking of heading to the casino, doing a little New Year’s Eve something," Benitez continued. "But at around 8, I started feeling my back pain. By 10/11, I couldn’t hold the pain anymore. It was just too much to bear. I looked at Dad and I’m like, ‘Okay, it’s time to go already.’ He’s like, ‘Are you sure?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, I’m sure. Let’s go.’" So they hopped in the car and made the trek from Indio to Palm Springs towards Desert Regional Medical Center. But baby Mikayla had other plans. "I’m over here panicking and screaming and yelling, and I’m just ready to give birth at that time," she said. "I felt the strongest contraction that I had and at that moment, I was like, ‘Okay, that’s it.’ So I started settling in a little bit, pulled down a little bit of my pants, took a deep breath, and just had that little release, pulled her out and had her there." On the corner of Vista Chino and Sunrise Way, baby Mikayla came into this world just five minutes after midnight. "Right when she came out, I remember the dad just saying, ‘My baby!’ Just seeing all the fireworks, it was like, yes, she’s out. Like we all celebrated it." They finally made it to the hospital, and that’s where they learned Mikayla was the first baby born in the valley to ring in 2023. "I’m blessed to have a very strong, healthy baby," Benitez said. "She’s doing amazing right now. Everybody has been nothing but supportive since day one. It was raining a little bit so it’s like we got a little baptism, too. So, it was a New Year’s celebration and we got a little baptism right there. Everything was just a show." Congratulations to Brenda Benitez and Miguel Mendoza on the birth of their baby girl Mikayla. They are looking forward to celebrating the New Year together very soon at their home in Indio.