On New Year’s Day—

Newtown’s First Baby Of 2005 Arrived In A Hurry

By Kaaren Valenta

Depending upon how you look at it, Jessica Lynn Rossomando was either nearly three days late or exactly on time.

Due on December 29, the 6 pound, 1 ounce daughter of Robert and Jane Rossomando arrived at 10:48 am on January 1, making her Newtown’s first baby of 2005. As the winner of The Bee’s annual First Baby contest, the Rossomando family of Walnut Tree Hill Road in Sandy Hook will receive many free gifts from local businesses.

“When she decided to finally come, she didn’t waste any time,” Mrs Rossomando said about her first child. “We got to Danbury Hospital at 9:25 am. My husband and I thought we would probably get sent home — that we would be going out for breakfast. But when the doctor came to check me at 10:20 am, she said ‘You are going to have this baby right now.’”

Originally from Danbury, Jane Rossomando is a fifth grade teacher at Naramake Elementary School in Norwalk. Her husband, a plumber, grew up in New Fairfield, moved to Newtown in 1995 and has worked for the Tim Conlon Co. in Newtown since 1997.

The couple met through a mutual friend in 1996, got married in July 2002, and moved into their house in Sandy Hook in November of that year. They are members of St Rose of Lima parish.

Mrs Rossomando said Jessica Lynn’s speedy arrival was quite a surprise.

“I was told that labors usually are quite long with first babies,” she said. “I thought I would have a doula and an epidural, but the doctor tapped me on the knee and said, “No, we are way past that point already.”

The couple chose not to know in advance whether they were having a boy or a girl, but they had already picked out the name Jessica Lynn if it turned out to be a girl.

“It was one of the few names that we both liked,” Mr Rossomando said.

When the couple brought their baby home, they discovered a stork sign on the front lawn announcing “It’s a Girl” and the house filled with pink balloons, courtesy of Jane Rossomando’s cousins.

The baby sleeps in a cradle that was originally made for her great-grandfather, Edward Gildea of Danbury in 1891, and in the bassinette that belonged to her father.

Jessica Lynn’s grandparents are Roger and Zita Schmiedel of Danbury; Bob Rossomando of Naples, Fla,, and Angela Masini of New Fairfield.

“My father was the associate principal of Danbury High School for 30 years, so I guess [careers in education] runs in our family,” Jane Rossomando said. She has been teaching fifth grade in Norwalk for eight years, after graduating from Merrimack College in Massachusetts, and plans to return to the classroom in April.

Jessica Lynn is a good baby, the couple said, although after sleeping well all day, she is alert and awake most nights from 11 pm to 3 am.

“I’ve seen every clip [on television] on Brad and Jen and the breakup plus the late night talk shows,” Mrs Rossomando said. “I thought Letterman and Jay Leno were the late shows but there are a lot more after them!”

The Rossomandos’ obstetrician, Patrice S. Gillotti, MD, of Physicians For Women, also was the doctor who delivered the runner-up in The Bee’s First Baby contest. Ariella Noelle Vavala, the daughter of Mary and Salvatore Vavala of Bonnie Brae Drive, was born at 10:44 am on January 2 at Danbury Hospital. She was also a tardy baby, due on December 28.

Ariella Noelle joins a sister, Marina, who is 18 months old. Her grandparents are Beth and Frank Tatto of Norwalk and Maria Vavala of Palm Coast, Fla.