A Red Deer family that anticipated a new baby at Christmas kicked off the new year in the delivery room instead.
Cadence Tora Solvej Block was born at 12:14 a.m. on Jan. 1 at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.
The healthy nine-pound, eight-ounce (4.31 kilograms) baby girl was 23.75 inches (60 centimetres) long.
Her parents Hushton Block and Leanne LaBrash were expecting her to arrive closer to Christmas since her due date was Dec. 22.
Medical staff decided to admit LaBrash to hospital the morning of Dec. 31 to induce her pregnancy because the baby was already eight days late.
LaBrash said she was taken to the delivery room after 11 p.m. where staff broke her water, but she did not expect labour to progress so quickly.
“The last time I remember looking at the clock, … , it said 11:46 p.m. I thought there was nooo way this baby was coming in the next 16 minutes,” LaBrash said.
“I looked at the clock when she came out and it was 12:14 and I thought that was a fast half hour.”
She said whether the birth happened in 2015 or 2016 wasn’t important, but it did feel “a little surreal” to discover their baby was the first to be born in the new year in Red Deer.
Cadence has a big brother, Magnus, 7, and a big sister Kierce, 4.
Their father said Kierce was awaiting the baby’s arrival.
”(Kierce) had been ready for some time. She told Santa for Christmas she wanted the baby out,” Hushton Block said.
LaBrash is a program co-ordinator at Red Deer College and Block is a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lacombe.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com