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Dina and Mohammed Al-Ameri’s lives changed at the stroke of midnight after Dina gave birth to the newest member of their family, Fatima.
Fatima was the first baby born in Toronto for 2019. She was delivered eight seconds into the new year at Scarborough Health Network’s General Hospital and Dina said it is a moment she won’t ever forget.
“She was born eight seconds after midnight… I’m very pleased to have a baby girl,” she said.
Dina said she was surprised when she felt contractions Monday morning.
“The labour was hard and it was surprising because she was supposed to born on her due date, which was Jan. 6 … She came early,” she said.
Mohammed said they arrived to the hospital two hours before baby Fatima was born.
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“The most exciting thing is that she was born on the New Year. It was 12 a.m.,” he said.
“It’s a lucky number for her.”
Dr. Ahlam Yanni delivered Fatima and said she was overjoyed to see the baby come so soon after midnight.
“It’s really special and really good. Any (baby) born in Canada is a special baby… but she is special because she is the first born in 2019,” Yanni said, adding how impressed she was with Dina’s delivery.
“She did really well. When I delivered the baby, I noticed the nurses … they said, ‘This is a New Year baby,’ and I looked at the time and saw the baby came at midnight.
“Everyone was clapping and screaming and saying, ‘We think we have a New Year baby.’ Everybody was happy.”
Second baby born less than three minutes later
At Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sebastian Forno was born almost three minutes after midnight, making him the runner-up New Year’s baby and it was a surprise to father Riccardo Forno and mother Rachel Forno.
“His due day was Jan. 17 … Rachel went into labour around 7 or 8 p.m., but it really got serious around 11:45 p.m.,” he said.
“At that point, you’re not really looking at the clock. I was just worried about Rachel and the baby and the baby came out and I looked at the clock and it was 12:02 a.m., so I knew that there was a chance that it was the first baby of the New Year in 2019 and then someone from the hospital said he was the first baby born at Sunnybrook.”
READ MORE: B.C.’s first baby of 2019 arrives at 12:01 a.m. at Royal Columbian Hospital
Baby Sebastian will be a younger brother to Gabriel.
“He has been great… we didn’t expect this. I’m sure each New Year will be a special day, obviously because it’s his birthday but also because we will remember this special time,” Riccardo said.
“It feels strange but it feels good.”
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