Sarah and Micah Wallace spent part of their New Year’s Eve watching the ball drop on television while in the maternity ward at Sarnia’s hospital.
Their daughter Zoey was born minutes later, at 12:02 am Jan. 1.
Officials with Bluewater Health announced later Sunday Zoey is the first baby born in 2023 at Sarnia’s hospital.
She wasn’t supposed to arrive for another two weeks, Micah Wallace said.
“Babies have their own timetable,” he said, adding everyone is healthy.
He politely declined to specify the newborn’s weight and height.
Sarah Wallace’s labor began earlier in the day Dec. 31, and the Wyoming duo recognized it was possible their child could be the New Year’s baby, Micah Wallace said.
“We were thinking it would be a few more hours into the New Year, but things went quicker than expected,” he said.
“We watched the ball drop on the TV and it was all about the same time.”
Having Zoey as this year’s New Year’s baby at Bluewater Heath is “a fun perk to the blessing that children are,” he said.
He and Sarah Wallace also have an 11-month-old son named Cody, he said.
“We were excited to have (Zoey) come into our family, and having it on … New Year’s Day is kind of a fun, extra bonus,” he said.
Lots of family members are excited to meet her, he said.
He also thanked the nursing staff at Bluewater Health, calling them great to work with.
This New Year’s baby is a relatively early arrival, as sometimes it can take days before the first baby of the year born at Bluewater Health arrives, hospital officials said.
About 1,000 babies are born per year at Bluewater Health, a spokesperson said.