When Ashti Nanlal and her husband found out that their first baby would be born on their wedding anniversary on January 25 they couldn't be more happy-or so they thought. Nanlal's baby came around 12.37 am yesterday and was the first of seven babies to be born on New Year's Day at San Fernando General Hospital up to 12.25 pm yesterday.
Four boys and three girls were born yesterday. One baby was delivered by caesarian section. "I feel lots of joy. I cannot express how I feel," said 27-year-old Nanlal as she cuddled her baby boy, Sanjay, at the hospital. The new mom said the baby was supposed to be a fourth wedding anniversary present. But, on Old Year's Day she started getting labour pains and her water broke around 2.30 pm. Her baby weighed 2.43 kg.
Father Jerome Mahabir, a truck driver, said he was watching television when he got the news his wife was in labour. "Not a lot of people get this joy to have their baby on the first day of the year." First Citizens Bank (FCB) representatives Brenda Singh and Lyndon Balkaran presented Nanlal of Clark Road, Penal with a gift basket and the couple also got a FCB?Neo account for the baby with an initial deposit of $500.
Meanwhile, Donny Ramgoolam really believed that his baby boy would have been first. "My wife Natrisher was here first but she had complications and the other woman (Nanlal) had her baby first," he said jokingly. His baby Joshua Justin came at 2.17 am. The last baby, born to Andrea McNish via a CS, graced the world at 9.43 am.
Head nurse of the post natal ward, Rookmin Harbajan-Pirmal said things have been slow on the ward since Christmas. "We were pretty heavy for Christmas and on the 12/12/12 we had 12 babies within the space of 12 hours. But right now we are quiet," she said.