As Torontonians gathered at Nathan Phillips Square for the annual New Year’s Eve celebrations, steps away at St. Michael’s Hospital, baby Shiloh Dlamini was delivered right at the stroke of midnight, as fireworks erupted outside the window.
“I was in labour for a long time and I just wanted the baby to come out, but when I looked at the time and saw the fireworks … it was beautiful, with a lot of colours,” Hlengiwe Khoza, Shiloh’s mom, told reporters from her hospital room Monday afternoon.
“I felt like I’m in a hotel — it was that beautiful — in a private room and I’m looking outside, I can see the fireworks. It was so amazing.”
Shiloh, who weighed in at seven pounds and 11 ounces, was born at exactly 12 a.m. Khoza said the timing of her daughter’s arrival was surprising.
“I wanted the baby to be born in December, but when I realized it was really a New Year’s baby I was shocked, I was shocked, I was shocked,” she said.
“All the nurses, they all came — and the doctors — they all came and they were screaming, ‘Happy New Year. It’s really 12 o’clock.’ It was a great experience.”
Mbali Dlamini, Shiloh’s dad, said it’s an experience he’ll remember and share well into the future.
“It’s an amazing feeling to think that we have a story to tell for her when she grows up, that’s one of the amazing things.”
However, Shiloh will share the 2018 New Year’s baby honour. At Humber River Hospital, staff posted on Twitter early Monday that Nadira Tijir-Timor delivered twins. Phillip was born right at midnight and his sister Victoria was delivered seven seconds later.
Meanwhile, across Canada, a baby in Montreal was born two seconds after midnight, while a baby girl was delivered in Surrey, B.C., nine seconds into the New Year.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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