B.C.’s first baby of 2018 was late Christmas present
Girl born to Surrey couple was expected on Christmas Day
It was just nine seconds into the new year that B.C.’s first baby of 2018 was born.
The 3.8-kilogram girl entered the world south of the Fraser at Surrey Memorial Hospital Monday at 12:00:09 a.m., born to firsttime mother Manpreet Kaur Nijjar and father Hardip Singh Shergill.
The child is without a name just yet, but that will come soon, said Shergill. He explained that his daughter would receive her name during a baby-naming ceremony at the gurdwara where they worship.
Shergill and Nijjar’s daughter could have been a Christmas Day baby, but she came seven days late, delivered by way of a caesarean section, according to Fraser Health.
Less than one minute later, on the other side of Metro Vancouver, a baby girl was delivered at B.C. Women’s Hospital. As of Monday afternoon the newborn had yet to take on her own name, so for now, it will have to be “baby girl,” or “B.G.,” joked father Brad Turner.
Asked to describe her child, firsttime mother Annie Tung said she was born very hungry and very cute with a full head of dark brown hair. Also, “she knows how to yell,” she said.
Meanwhile, the first baby to be delivered in 2018 at a Vancouver Coastal Health facility arrived at 12:50 a.m. at Squamish General Hospital. Wells Kramer Hunt was born to Whistler parents Michelle and Jeff Hunt and weighed just over three kilograms at birth. Wells has brown hair and dark blue eyes and an older brother Wesley who has already met and held him in his lap.
“He’s been excited,” Michelle said of Wesley. “I don’t know how excited he’ll be once he sees that mommy has to pay a lot of attention to her new baby, but he’s very sweet and caring. He takes good care of his mommy, so I think he’ll take good care of his brother, too.”
As it turns out, being the first baby of the year is not something new in Michelle’s family. Her mom happened to be the first baby born in Fontainebleau, France, in 1955, she explained.
Wells got his name from the W section in a list of 1,000 boys names, Michelle said, laughing. “We got all the way to the W’s and we were like, OK.”
His middle name, Kramer, was Michelle’s maiden name, she explained.
Soon after Wells’ birth, staff in health authorities around the province were delivering their first children of the year too.
The first Vancouver Island baby of 2018 arrived at 1:23 a.m. at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, according to Island Health. The baby arrived weighing nearly 4.4 kg.
Shortly after, at 2:07 a.m., Interior Health’s first baby was born in Penticton, according to Penticton Western News. He came in at more than 4.5 kg.
And lastly, at 7:25 a.m., Northern Health had its first delivery of the year in Dawson Creek, when baby Camilla was delivered to parents Tricia and Ryan of Bay Tree, Alta., according to the health authority.
I don’t know how excited (the older brother will) be once he sees that mommy has to pay a lot of attention to her new baby.