It was a close race to become the first born in the GTA in 2009, and perhaps it will never been known for certain which New Year’s baby came out first.
A five-pound, 14-ounce girl, Nyla Adrianna Gonsalves, born just a hair past her Wednesday due date, was born at the stroke of midnight, according those gathered in the Toronto East General Hospital birthing centre for the double countdown. But the hospital does not record time of birth in seconds, only minutes — making it unclear whether Nyla was indeed the front-runner.
At the North York General Hospital, Martin Liu, the seven-pound, three-ounce son of Jing Ning Lui, was born 0.9 of a second after midnight, said a hospital spokesperson.
And in Mississauga less than two seconds later, Chantal DiMarco, who turned 32 on New Year’s Eve, got the perfect birthday gift when she gave birth to her first daughter, Milana.
But one thing is for certain: There were some very exciting countdowns in GTA hospitals Wednesday night.
Little Nyla was quiet and calm Thursday afternoon, squirming and yawning in the arms of her mother, Erica Dumont, 26, but the night before had been much more boisterous.
Nyla’s father Paul Gonsalves, 27, said there were “like 15 people cheering around because five minutes before New Year’s, all the nurses on this floor and all the doctors in this floor came in and they did the countdown.”
“And then right at the end of the countdown, she popped out.”
“I had a whole audience watching,” said Dumont.
Dumont and Gonsalves also have a 16-month-old son, Nigel, who loves music and dancing and will be expected, according to Gonsalves, to look out for his baby sister when they are old enough to go to school.
