Edmonton’s first baby of the New Year was a girl.
Officials said Saiya Kaur was born at 2 a.m. at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital to mom, Sangeet Kaur Kang, and dad, Arne Kang.
She weighed seven pounds and seven ounces
Sangeet told reporters they never expected to have a New Year’s baby.
“It was just a shock. It happened so fast,” she said adding her due date was January 2.
“We actually thought she’d be here way earlier than that.”
However, dad was hopeful.
“I thought it’d be cool to have a new year’s baby but I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Arne smiled.
The couple explained that they went out for wings to try and induce labour before heading to a friend’s place for a New Year’s gathering.
When the contractions started, they decided to try walking around for a bit.
“We went to Sobey’s in Riverbend and we walked up and down the aisles for 30 or 40 minutes until we realized we were really in labour,” Sangeet explained.
They headed to the hospital shortly after.
“We were just relieved we made it in time.”
The couple has been married for seven years and this is their second baby.
Saiya has a two-year-old brother, Nishann.
Arne explained that the baby’s name means shadow.
“It’s just someone that’s with you all the time and something that is with you all the time. That’s why we picked the name,” he said.
The couple stated they didn’t find out they had the city’s official New Year’s baby until 8 a.m.
Health officials said the first baby born at the Royal Alexandra Hospital was at 4:11 a.m., and the first baby at the Misericordia Community Hospital was at 6:38 a.m.
