By Denise Ryan, Vancouver Sun
SURREY — B.C. has one more Canucks fan.
Grayson Heinrich Jackson, the first baby born in the province this year, showed off his allegiance to the team by wearing a tiny Canucks onesie and ignoring the media that clamoured for his attention on New Year’s Day (Jan. 1).
Grayson, who weighed in at 8 lbs., 9 oz., was born at 15 minutes after midnight to Naomi Vosshans and Ryan Jackson at Surrey Memorial Hospital. The couple had travelled from Fort Nelson a month ago to await the baby’s birth in the Vancouver area, where Jackson’s family lives. (Due to a lack of maternity facilities, expectant mothers are advised to leave Fort Nelson to give birth.)
Baby Jackson, who was expected Jan. 1, arrived right on schedule.
“He came out and gave a little croak,” said dad. “He’s a big Canucks fan. Anything but a Bruins fan.“
“His bedroom is Canucks colours, half his clothes are Canucks clothes,” said Vosshans.
Little Grayson is the first child for the team of Jackson and Vosshans.
Every baby is special, but coming in first adds a little more fanfare.
Outside the littlest Canuck’s hospital room a security guard kept watch as media queued up. Inside the room, the superfans (Grandma, Gramps and Auntie Sam) hovered, bursting with pride while little Grayson slept blissfully through the commotion.
“We were surprised when the nurse came in and told us he was the first baby born in B.C.,” said Jackson.
After all, his birth time, 15 minutes after midnight, might have left him in the defensive zone, but like a puck that crosses the goal-line just before the buzzer sounds, Grayson made the net in time.
So what was the final score? “We weren’t even thinking about it. Once midnight passed we just thought, ‘Oh, sweet, a new year baby,’ ” said Jackson. “We figured because he was born 15 minutes after midnight, someone somewhere else in the province would have been first.“
“Last year, I think the first baby was born five seconds after midnight,” said Vosshans.
So awestruck were they by Grayson’s arrival they didn’t really think about it at all.
Although team mom and dad were a little worn out by the big event, they couldn’t be happier about the outcome.
