JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Jan. 2, 2025 — Brooke Army Medical Center rang in the New Year by welcoming the hospital’s first baby of 2025. The 8-pound, 4-ounce, 21-inch-long baby girl was born at 4:55 a.m. on Jan. 1.

Chloe Kay Pearson surprised her mother, Army Spc. Natane Brooke Sims, by arriving three weeks early.

Sims said she was at the dentist to get her braces removed but when they took her blood pressure it was elevated so they told her to go see her obstetrician.

“I didn’t get my braces off, but I got a baby,” she said. “That’s not what I thought was going to happen, but I’m happy it happened.”

Although BAMC’s first baby did not win the city-wide baby race conducted by local San Antonio hospitals, Sims did receive a gift basket, which was presented by BAMC Commander Col. Mark Stackle, Melinda Stackle and Command Sgt. Maj. Dedraf Blash. The gift basket was donated by the BAMC Auxiliary.

“We always present the first baby born on New Year’s Day with a gift basket from the BAMC Auxiliary, but I was excited to find out that Spc. Sims was one of our own,” Stackle said.

Sims works at BAMC in Sterilization, Processing, and Distribution.

The new mother was thankful for the gift basket and the visit from the command team.