NATCHEZ — His parents might not have expected it, but when Ted Mack Wright Jr. was born at Natchez Community Hospital Friday morning, he was the first baby to be born in the Miss-Lou in 2009.

Originally scheduled to be born by caesarian section Jan. 10, doctors moved Ted’s delivery date to Thursday and then again to Friday, his mother Georgenia Wright said.

But when he was born at 8:11 a.m., Ted — weighing in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces, 36.5 inches long — didn’t seem to mind the date shuffling.

His mother, however, was a little surprised when she learned he would be the first baby of the year in the area.

“I was so shocked this morning when they told me (he) would be the New Year’s baby,” she said.

The proud father of the Miss-Lou’s first baby of the year — Ted Mack Wright Sr. — could hardly sit in his chair as he beamed at his newborn son, resting on Georgenia’s shoulder.

“I think we accomplished a beautiful thing today,” Wright Sr. said.

Ted Jr.’s 5-year-old sister Aarion was with her grandmother Friday afternoon, but Georgenia said Aarion feels like big-sisterhood suits her.

“She is loving it,” Georgenia said.

When the family takes its new addition home in a few days, everything will be waiting — crib, bassinet, clothes and diapers.

“Everything is labeled just like we wanted it,” Wright Sr. said. “We did it weeks ago.”

Even with the planning and scheduling, there is no taking the new baby — or the time of his delivery — for granted, Georgenia said.

“I said it would take a miracle, and God is in the miracle business.”