CANTON — Ava Leah Wilcoxson couldn’t wait to get here.

Ava is Cherokee County’s 2013 New Year’s baby, born at 9:35 a.m. New Year’s Day at Northside Hospital-Cherokee.

Parents Adrienne Cloud and Joe Wilcoxson originally anticipated Ava arriving on Jan. 7. While her Jan. 1 birthday puts Ava a little bit ahead of schedule, she tried to come into the world even earlier.

Cloud, a 27-year-old Woodstock resident, spent the last 10 weeks of her pregnancy on bed rest after going into pre-term labor.

She checked into the hospital on New Year’s Eve. Doctors planned to induce labor, but there was no need.

“At 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, (Adrienne) woke me up and said, ‘This is starting,’” said Wilcoxson, 25. About four hours later, Ava was born.

“It was a really fast labor,” Cloud said.

Ava, Cloud and Wilcoxson’s first child, was 20 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 4.9 ounces at birth.

During the pregnancy, friends and family had joked with the new mother and father that their little girl would be born on Christmas or New Year’s.

While Ava didn’t make it in time for Christmas, her parents say they’re “in love” with their new gift.

“I’m excited, of course,” Joe said. Adrienne’s mom, Sandra Cloud, said the proud dad was “glowing” from the time he found out Adrienne was expecting.

As the first baby of 2013, Ava and her family received a cake made from tiered diapers from the hospital and a gift basket from the March of Dimes.