First Baby Of New Year: Stories About Delivering Just After Midnight On Jan. 1

Getting The 'First Baby Of The New Year' Honor

It's not just a scene from a movie, some parents race against the clock to have the first baby of the new year.

In most places, delivering just after midnight on Jan. 1 just comes with the prestigious title (and a bit of media attention). But, a few lucky parents also pick up perks such as diapers, gifts and even prize money.

On Jan. 1, 2011, A Florida couple gave birth to a baby girl just 16 seconds after midnight. Baby Anisa's grandmother was cheering for a new year's day birth so the child could have a unique birth date: 1/1/11.

"Mom was right the whole time. She was so happy. She was jumping up and down and saying 'Yes! Yes! Yes!'" mother Jozatte Thomas told the Northwest Florida Daily News.

But family members aren't the only folks who get excited about the annual contest. Some hospital staff say the unpredictability of which baby is going to get the distinction is all part of the fun.

"You could have two people in labor, and you don't know who's going to go first," Terri Jones, an obstetrics department manager at an Ohio hospital, told the Review Times.

While some parents battle it out to give birth in the new year, others race against the clock to deliver before the hand strikes midnight. Why? Because mom and dad can make the deadline to qualify for a tax deduction.

California residents Zac and Kristin Johnson aimed to deliver just in time for the tax break last year, but baby Curtis was born just 10 seconds after midnight on Jan. 1, 2011, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The couple just missed the deadline, but they did receive a gift basket and a month's worth of diaper service from the hospital -- oh, and a healthy baby boy.

The baby must be completely out of its mother for the "birth" to count, the Loyola University System explains. However, there's no need to wait for the umbilical cord to be cut.

Babies who have a Jan. 1 birthday are said to be lucky for life, according to Yahoo News. The superstition is also said to extend to the newborn's family, who's supposedly granted good luck for the rest of the year.

If that's true, one Pennsylvania couple and their daughters are apparently ultra lucky.

Kyle and Becky Armstrong welcomed the first baby of the year at a local hospital in 2008, the Associated Press reports. But here's where it gets freaky: baby Faith's big sister was also the first baby of the new year at the same hospital in 2007.

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