TORONTO -- Hospitals across the Greater Toronto Area welcomed the first babies of 2020 early Wednesday morning.
A bouncing baby boy was born at exactly the stroke of midnight at Humber River Hospital in Toronto. Weighing a healthy 8.3 pounds, Amiir Deeq Mohammed could be seen Wednesday afternoon in his mother’s arms, swaddled in a knit blue blanket.
“I’m very happy,” the boy’s father said. “I am excited to have this wonderful, special baby boy.”
Deeq Mohammed Farah said that his son was due a couple of weeks ago, so the family was not expecting a new year’s baby.
“When the baby came, at the right time, the attendants, nurses and doctors, they explained it really well. They said you hit the new year,” Farah said. “It was a great surprise,”
“It’s a miracle boy.”
Trillium Health Partners, a hospital system that serves certain areas of the GTA, said that their first baby of the year was delivered just 50 seconds after midnight on New Year’s Day at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga.
The little boy, named Aryan, weighed in at about eight pounds.
Speaking with CP24 on Wednesday morning, the baby’s mother said that, at the time, she had no idea Aryan was the first child born in Mississauga this year.
“When the baby was delivered, everyone was so excited,” Anu Walia said. “We couldn’t be happier.”
“Fifty seconds into the new year and we got this little precious gift,” Simran Walia said while holding his newborn son in his arms.
Anu Walia’s delivery date was scheduled for Jan. 13 and she said that her family was already preparing for a 2020 baby—but those plans were put on hold when she went into labour early.
“My maternity photoshoot, my baby shower, all the decorations, everything was planned around 2020, so when the labour hit yesterday, I was like, ‘oh my gosh all that is going to go to waste now,’” Anu Walia said. “But the baby actually helped us out and came after the new year.”
Other hospitals ring in New Year with newborns
Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto welcomed its first bundle of joy at 12:13 a.m. and Lakeridge Health in Oshawa announced their first baby was born at 12:34 a.m.
At North York General Hospital, Kert Lin was born at 5:51 a.m.
"Congrats to the family and happy birthday to all our New Years babies," the hospital said.
