Olivia Cross thought there was a possibility she would have the New Year’s baby, and took a chance by buying a themed outfit for her newborn.
Jan. 1 came and went, and while she had Braxton Hicks contractions, there wasn’t a baby born on New Year’s Day.
“We didn’t even really know about the New Year’s baby until about a month ago or so. (People said) ‘well maybe you’ll have the New Year’s baby,’ and I thought, let’s do it! Why not - it’s close enough,” Cross said, laughing, with her husband Patrick, while holding their newborn son Nixon at the North Island Hospital Comox Valley.
On Thursday (Jan. 4), Cross visited her doctor, who said she should go to the hospital.
Hours later, at 11:07 p.m., Nixon arrived, weighing eight pounds, eight ounces – four days before his due date.
Both older brothers - Hunter, three-and-a-half, and Jordan, 13 - are excited about their new sibling, added Patrick.
“The older boy texted me at 2:30 in the morning asking for updates.”
While Nixon technically was not the first baby born in 2018 in the Comox Valley - that honour goes to Paige Dalby and Darren Peerens of Qualicum Beach, who had Autumn Rose on Jan.3 - he was the first baby whose parents live in the Comox Valley.
“It’s obviously not the first, but I guess the doctor said there was a whole bunch of babies born just before (the new year) and this was kind of the first one,” noted Olivia.