Guam Couple Welcomes Likely First American Baby of 2018

By Jack Phillips
January 1, 2018 Last Updated: January 1, 2018
A giant clock counts down the seconds to midnight on Dec 31 2017 in London (Yann Caradec/Flickr)

The first baby born in the United States of 2018 likely is a baby boy born in Guam.

Two seconds after midnight on New Year’s Day, Jennica Lynch and Davante Perez welcomed Logan James Lynch Perez, People magazine reported.

 

Guam is a U.S. territory in the western Pacific.

“It was painful, but it was worth it,” Lynch told the Pacific Daily News. “He’s a handsome, healthy baby.”

Dr. Thomas Shieh said the birth was “all natural, not induced.” And he added that the hospital has a policy against inducing labor close to the turn of the new year, People reported.

“It’s exciting, we’re blessed,” Lynch told the Pacific Daily News. “We’re thankful for everything.”

In the U.S. mainland, a little girl born at the Flushing Hospital in Queens, New York, might be the first.

The girl, who doesn’t yet have a name, was born at 12:01 a.m. on New Year’s Day, Fox5 reported. She’s 4 pounds, 11.5 ounces, and is 18 inches long.

The mother is 25-year-old Tania Shirin. The baby and mother are doing fine, hospital staff told the Fox affiliate.

“They’re very happy to have a little baby girl and she’s adorable, they’re just thrilled to be parents,” Dr. Andrew Rubin, of the Flushing Hospital in Queens, told the New York Post.

Another baby born in New York at one minute past midnight was Kazi Ariana to parents Tania Shirin, 25, and father Imran Nazir, 28, a taxi driver and student at York College from Bangladesh. Baby Kazi gave her parents a scare when she stopped growing 10 days before her Jan. 10 due date. Shirin was rushed to the hospital and was able to give birth naturally as the new year rolled in.

Meanwhile, the very first baby born in the world might be a child born in Auckland, New Zealand, about one minute after midnight. Auckland is the first major city to celebrate the New Year.

Baby Rex was born one minute past midnight on Jan. 1, 2018, according to Stuff.co.nz.

Islands in the western Pacific Ocean like Samoa, Tonga, and Kiritimati are the first places to welcome the New Year. But Auckland is the first major city in the world to celebrate the New Year. It doesn’t appear that there were any babies born on Samoa, Tonga, and Kiritimati—or on any other Pacific islands. Meanwhile, there have been no reports so far of any other babies born in New Zealand before Rex.

Ena and Chien Lu, both 32, are the parents of Rex.

“Everyone was saying that there was a good chance that he was the first but we don’t know for sure, yet,” Ena told the website.

“It’s a bit surreal. When he came out it was just magical,” she added. “He’s actually a really good baby, when he came out he was really loud, but once I fed him he went to sleep and now he’s been asleep for four hours. So I got some decent sleep.”

“I was in there during the whole birthing experience with her, I cut the cord and when the baby came out, it was a big wow,” Chien said. “They took him and put him on her skin and he started breathing immediately – it was amazing.”

“I’m quite scared of babies, I always thought they were quite fragile but they are actually very resilient, and very cute and I’m very happy to be a father.”

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