While many people were ringing in the new year with champagne and Auld Lang Syne, Hannah Frazer was giving birth to Nanaimo’s first baby of 2014.
Seven-pound, 14-ounce Willow Dorothy Frazer was born at 4:27 a.m. on Wednesday at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital to a happy mother, father Brock and sister Olivia. While Willow was born in the early morning hours, it wasn’t until later when the Frazers decided on a name.
“Willow was just one that we liked and Dorothy is a family name for us,” Hannah said. “Dorothy was one we’d been pondering while I was pregnant and Willow, I guess the first night we got home from the hospital, I was just staying up late and it’s just a name I’ve always loved and found very beautiful – it seemed perfect.”
Willow’s arrival was unexpected, as her due date was supposed to be Jan. 11. Labour was relatively short compared to Olivia’s birth, said Hannah, whose water broke on the morning of New Year’s Eve. After heading to the hospital in the evening to get checked, a decision was made to induce labour.
“I guess they induced me at about 8 p.m. and [4:27 a.m.] she made her arrival so it wasn’t a terribly long labour,” said Hannah, adding that she felt tired but great otherwise and her newborn is in great shape as well.
Olivia is happy to have a new sibling and according to Hannah, has been helping to dress Willow and even sang Christmas songs during the family’s first car trip to make her little sister happy.
As for having a New Year’s Day birthday, it is something Willow will enjoy more and more as she gets older, according to her mother.
“It’s kind of fun. We were just mulling over what it would be like for her to have her birthday be on that day,” Hannah said. “I bet by the time she’s 18 or so, it will be a lot of fun – have the whole world count down to your birthday.”