BUNDLE OF NEW YEAR’S JOY
City’s first baby of 2020 welcomed
The tiny newborn wriggled in her mother’s arms, unaware of the room full of people celebrating her birth as Calgary’s first baby of 2020.
Baby Maya arrived at Peter Lougheed Centre at 12:20 a.m. on Wednesday, a week before her due date to the surprise of her mother, Ania Dolganiuk, father and older brother.
The family had joked that Maya would arrive in time for the new year but Dolganiuk never expected it to happen.
“We had laughed about it and it happened exactly how we had joked about it, but it is a nice surprise. It’s funny how you can plan for something and then something unexpected happens,” the mother said.
Her 21-month-old brother, Yakub, is already her biggest fan, sharing his favourite toys with her — which is not common practice for him, according to Dolganiuk. In the hospital room, Yakub repeated his sister’s name again and again, pausing only to exclaim “choo choo” as he placed his favourite toy train in her little hands. He quickly swapped back to repeating “Maya, Maya, Maya.”
Weighing in at six pounds, 10 ounces and reaching 49 centimetres long, Maya was also born with a full head of dark hair.
Her parents picked Maya as her name because in some cultures it means princess.
Maya was the city’s first baby of 2020 by more than an hour and a half.
“She is healthy and brings lots of joy to our family. With her birth date being Jan. 1, 2020, it’s a nice day to have a birthday party and celebrate,” said Dolganiuk, who couldn’t take her eyes off her newborn. “We wish everyone a happy, peaceful and healthy year.”
We had laughed about it and it happened exactly how we had joked about it, but it is a nice surprise.