FIRST ONES HERE
GTA hospitals welcome new arrivals of 2016,
While many across the GTA were ushering in 2016, Ashley and Ryan Laswick welcomed the arrival of their baby daughter just three seconds after midnight.
To add to the suspense of the event, the north Whitby couple almost didn’t make it to the delivery room at Markham Stouffville Hospital.
“Around 10:30 p.m., my contractions started getting fairly strong,” Ashley said.
Ryan drove them to the hospital as quickly as possible.
“We arrived about, literally, 10 minutes to midnight and as soon as they got me on the bed, she was on her way out.”
Avery was safely delivered, weighing in at six pounds and 14 ounces.
Avery is the Laswicks’ second child and this experience was different than the birth of their son Jackson 21⁄ years ago.
2 “My son was 23 hours of labour, so it’s . . . night and day,” Ashley said.
Even though Avery wasn’t due to arrive until Jan. 7, the couple decided to stay home for New Year’s just in case something happened.
Thirty-six seconds after Avery was born, the first baby in Toronto was delivered at North York General Hospital, a boy named Julian. He arrived by way of a C-section, weighing eight pounds and 11 ounces.
Despite the presence of reporters and photographers, Julian wiggled briefly and slept through his first media appearance Friday afternoon. His mother, who didn’t want to be identified, was said to be doing well.
“We arrived at 10 minutes to midnight and as soon as they got me on the bed, she was on her way out.” ASHLEY LASWICK MOM TO GTA’S FIRST 2016 BABY
Meanwhile, Mississauga resident Flordeluz De Guzman became the first resident to give birth this year at Trillium Health Partners’ facilities in Peel Region.
Her son, Theo Franz, was born weighing seven pounds and 2.7 ounces at 12:34 a.m., after she began experiencing labour pains more than 18 hours earlier.
De Guzman said she waited as long as possible before going to the hospital, as she wasn’t sure if this was a “true labour.”
She said Theo’s birth was especially meaningful since her husband Teddy was able to help with the delivery. He was in the Philippines when their 2-year-old daughter Tasha Floriella was born.
If Theo was born on Thursday, it would have been special for the De Guzman family because he would have shared a birthday with Flordeluz’s mother. In fact, a few family members were over Thursday for a birthday celebration.
“They were supporting me, but at the same time they were having fun while (I was) in the other side of the room having labour — in pain,” she said, laughing.