The Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital welcomed its first baby of 2019 in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
Madia Ann Vandermeer, weighing eight pounds and six ounces, came into the world at 12:57 a.m. on Jan. 5.
Parents Leah McInnes and Scott Vandermeer, along with Lainey, her three-year-old big sister, are from Beaver Falls.
“I’m feeling good,” Leah told the Trail Times Monday morning. “Everything went very well.”
Madia Ann’s arrival as the first baby of the new year was a surprise to her parents for a couple of reasons.
“My due date wasn’t until January 14 so we kinda joked about it ‘Maybe I’ll have the first baby.'”
It turned out to be prophetic after they arrived at the hospital on Friday, 10 days before the expected due date.
“Going in on the 4th (Jan. 4) we didn’t think we’d be the first baby,” she said.
“But when we got there they said no baby had been born yet. We were quite surprised.”
With her arrival, Madia Ann and her family will receive a gift from the Trail Times, which features $300 worth of gift certificates from local businesses and groups.
The first baby born in the Interior Health region arrived at 1:58 a.m. on New Year’s Day at the Kelowna General Hospital.
Hugo Kyle weighed in at eight pounds and 11 ounces.
B.C.’s first baby timed it perfectly as Dominik Soswa was born at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster at 12:01 a.m. New Year’s Day.
Dominik was the first of the approximately 42,000 babies that are expected to be born in the province this year.
