BURIN, N.L.
It was an emotional day for Ashley Brown and Gus Slaney of St. Lawrence as they welcomed their first child into the world on Friday, Jan. 4.
“We both bawled,” said Slaney. “As soon as we heard him cry we both broke down in tears.”
Ayden Augustus Michael Slaney was born Jan. 4, 1:38 a.m. weighing 8lb 11.4oz, making him the first child born on the Burin Peninsula for the New Year.
Brown had been due in late December but had gone past her due date.
“We were actually due on Christmas Day,” she explained when The Southern Gazette visited the new family at the Burin Peninsula Health Care Centre.
The couple report that both mom and baby are doing fine and hope to be released from the hospital on Monday, Jan. 7.
“We’re just taking it all in and enjoying it,” said Brown. “Excited to be parents.”
As in past years Dr. William Moulton presented the family with a new car seat on behalf of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA).
The organization does the same for the first baby of the year at all nine facilities in the province that perform deliveries to encourage all parents to use car seats from the moment their baby leaves the hospital.
The NLMA purchases the car seats to donate to the families of the New Year’s babies.
While Ayden was the first baby born on the Burin Peninsula for 2019, the title of first born in the eastern region for the new year belongs to Zephyr Louise Coyote Byrne-Russell of Dildo.
The daughter of Kathyrn Byrne and Benjamin Russell was born Jan. 1, 2019 at 2 a.m. at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s.