New Year bundles of joy provide proud NI families with the perfect start to 2018
PROUD Belfast mum Georgina Devine has given birth to one of the first babies of 2018 in Northern Ireland.
Mason Devine was born at the Royal Victoria Hospital at 4.53am, weighing in at six pounds 12.5 ounces.
He is 29-year-old Georgina’s third child after having given birth to two daughters previously.
She said that she had been shocked to discover she was expecting a boy as she had assumed that the baby would be another girl.
“It is brilliant. It is just so different. I was just so shocked,” she said.
It will be a busy year for Georgina, whose two other children are five-yearold Zara and Sophia, who is 17 months.
She said that dad Damien and her family are all “over the moon” with the new arrival.
Georgina said that her girls were coming to the hospital to meet their new brother and would “probably think he is lovely”.
Despite having her hands full, Georgina added that she hoped to be able to relax at home later in the evening following the natural birth, which was two days’ overdue.
Another new mum, also called Georgina, was celebrating with her husband John and family members at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.
Mrs King gave birth to baby Annie Ivy at 8.11am yesterday weighing in at 71b 3oz.
Georgina (34) went on to say that baby Annie, her firstborn, was a “happy surprise”.
She indicated that the infant was named after her aunt Annie who died last year.
“We knew we were having a girl,” she added. Georgina, a restaurant manager at The Tides Restaurant in Portrush, said she did not think that she would have been the first to give birth at the Co Londonderry hospital on New Year’s Day.
Making an even earlier appearance at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital was baby boy Eben Bosse, born to mum Sandra.
He arrived at 3am tipping the scales at nine pounds and 7.5 ounces.
Last year, James and Emily were the two most popular babies’ names in Northern Ireland.
James knocked Jack off the top spot in the province overall although it remained the number one choice in Co Londonderry.
Jacob and Amelia were the favourites in Belfast, Jack and Emily in Armagh, Harry and Emily in Lisburn, and Ryan and Grace in Newry.
Oliver and Jack were the first choice names for newborns in 12 UK cities.
Muhammed and Amelia were the most favoured in London, Jacob and Olivia in Cardiff, and Jack and Olivia were the favourites in Edinburgh.
According to Mumsnet, the top girls’ names in the UK in 2017 were Olivia, Amelia, Emily, Isla, Ava, Isabella, Lily, Jessica, Ella and Mia.
Meanwhile, the most popular boys’ names were Oliver, Harry, George, Jack, Jacob, Noah, Charlie, Muhammed, Thomas and Oscar.