When you’re vying to be the first-born baby of 2020, every second counts and two babies in the Greater Toronto Area were born at the stroke of midnight and only 50 seconds apart.
“The nurse told us, ‘You guys hit the new year,’ and I said, ‘What?’ And she said, ‘You guys hit the new year,” new father Deeq Mohammed Farah said while chuckling.
“It was my first baby and I didn’t know.”
Farah and his wife are refugees. They moved to Canada from Somalia in 2014. Their new son, Amiir, is not just a New Year’s baby — he’s also the first-born Canadian in the family. It’s a big feat for a little guy weighing in at 8.3 pounds.
“Welcome to the new world, new time, new country,” added Farah.
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“I got a new baby — a new friend. I was alone and we were struggling for many years to have a baby.”
At 12:00:50 a.m., Aryan Walia graced the world with his presence. Weighing just under eight pounds, his parents can’t seem to get enough of the little guy who spent much of Wednesday sleeping.
“I never thought I would be loving a new person this much, it was just crazy,” explained new mother Anu Walia.
“As soon as I held the baby, I didn’t know what else was going on. I was just so busy looking at the baby,”
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It’s quite possible that also born at the stroke of midnight was the Washington Capitals’ newest fan. Sporting his Alex Ovechkin jersey, father Simran Walia said it felt like time stood still the moment his son was born.
“A lot of people have told me that you go silent and numb and have everything in the background but that actually literally happens,” he said.
Barbara Collins, the CEO of Humber River Hospital, said she can relate to the excitement of the day since she had a New Year’s baby of her own 41 years ago.
She said her hospital welcomes between 5,000 and 6,000 newborns a year and always offers up a piece of advice for new parents.
“Every moment you have with your children is a gift, every moment you have as a family is a gift — enjoy it,” Collins said.
“Love your baby, love your children as they grow older. There’s ups and downs, but you always work your way through them.”
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