Relatively speaking, Carmella Di Claudio was going to cast a pretty big shadow, anyway.
Newborns weighing nearly 10 pounds — 9.6, to be exact — have ways of doing that.
Carmella, however, went one better.
The daughter of Dominick and Juliana Claudio of Fairmont entered the world at 3:39 p.m. Monday at Mon Health Medical Center — right at the height of the solar eclipse.
As she was delivered by cesarean section, the birth was as planned as could be.
Except, it wasn’t.
“Yeah, we were supposed to go at 7:30 that morning,” Juliana said. “We kept getting bumped back.”
Then came the afternoon.
And the moon-shadow.
And a new light in the lives of Juliana, Dominick and Carmella’s big brother Dominico, who is 20 months old.
“So we got an eclipse baby,” Juliana said. “Pretty cool.”
“I picked her up a pair of eclipse glasses,” Dominick said. “Her birthday is even more memorable.”
According to lore, infants arriving during such celestial events are deemed to grow into fearless, independent adults — and ones who might even have a certain cosmic extra, courtesy of the dance between the sun and the moon.
Both parents get a chuckle out of that.
Babies born into big, boisterous families get that anyway, they said, no matter what is transpiring on the celestial calendar.
“She’s healthy and beautiful with a head of black hair,” Juliana said. “And Dominico is thrilled.”
As far as Dominick is concerned, Juliana already eclipsed it all, just by doing that Mom thing she does.
“The first thing she said was our daughter’s name,” the dad remembered.
Juliana did the same with their son, he added.
“Dominico. Carmella. Just hearing her say those names right at that moment was the most beautiful sound in the world.”
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