OLDS — A Didsbury couple have been told they have an area hospital's New Year’s baby.
Leif Ballard was born at 9:11 p.m. on Jan. 6 in the Olds Hospital and Care Centre, weighing eight pounds.
He’s the son of Daniel Ballard and Toni Newsham and the younger brother of Declan Newsham, now 17 months old.
Daniel says both the baby and Toni are doing well. They were discharged on Jan. 7.
He says the nurses told them Leif was the New Year’s baby. However, that could not be confirmed by Alberta Health Services (AHS).
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, AHS is not announcing or confirming New Year's babies this year.
Daniel wondered if they might have the New Year’s baby.
"The due date was the 30th of December so I was like, ‘hey, it’s just a couple of days later and it would be the New Year’s Baby.’ It’s just something cool to talk about,” he said during an interview.
“Then we showed up at the hospital and they said, ‘yeah, you guys are the first baby of the year so far’ and we were like, ‘what?’ We were surprised. Six days into the new year.”
To mark the occasion, the nursing staff presented the couple with a blanket and a Tim Hortons gift card.
Daniel said Toni’s active labour was not long – just a couple of hours.
Toni is an arborist and Daniel is a landscaper.
They first met each other in Grade 1, but then met again at Olds College in about 2011.
Daniel’s parents, Trevor and Trudy Ballard, are dairy farmers in Mountain View County.
Trudy says the birth of Leif is good news in a tough time.
“My cousin lives in the States and that was the day of all the turmoil in the States,” Trudy said.
“She wrote to me, she goes ‘what a nice, peaceful gift on such an awful day.’”
