First Whiteside baby arrives four days early

Alex T. Paschal/Gazette Ron and Courtney Binder smile at their new son Dalton Jerry Binder Wednesday afternoon at CGH Medical Center. Dalton was born at 10:57 a.m. Tuesday.

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This New Year's baby in Whiteside County was in quite a hurry to see 2008. After a quiet New Year's Eve, Courtney Binder, of Lyndon, began to feel contractions around 7 a.m. Tuesday. She got to CGH Medical Center a little after 10 a.m., and a mere 57 minutes later, there was Dalton - four days before his due date.

"He came out so fast, I didn't have time to get up here," said Ron Binder, Courtney's 30-year-old husband. "His birthday will be easy to remember."

Dalton Jerry Binder, Sterling High Principal Jerry Binder's great-nephew, checked in at 6 pounds and 19 1/2 inches long.

Courtney and Ron spent New Year's Eve at home watching movies with their three other children, 10-year-old Kayla, 8-year-old Audrah and 1-year-old Peyton. The fireworks came the next morning.

"I did feel a little uncomfortable on New Year's Eve, but I thought it was a false alarm," said Courtney, 29. "When I woke up, it was the real thing.

"I'm relieved to finally have him," added Courtney, who's been on bed rest since going into preterm labor in October.

Compared to his siblings, Dalton's been pretty calm - he only fusses when he's hungry or needs a diaper change.

"He seems the mellowest out of all of them," she said.

Whiteside County's first baby of the year will be the Binders' last, they said.

"Four is enough," Courtney said. "Our family is the perfect size now."

Reach Joseph Bustos at (815) 625-3600 or (800) 798-4085, ext. 529.