THUNDER BAY – Thinking she had a day to spare, mother-to-be Vanessa Riccio was settling in Sunday to watch her beloved Minnesota Vikings in their final regular-season game of 2017.
By noon, however, it became clear her daughter had other plans.
By 9:07 a.m. on New Year’s Day, Olivia Serafina Riccio had arrived, the first baby born in Thunder Bay in 2018, weighing in at a healthy six pounds, five ounces.
The infant, still sleeping soundly on Monday afternoon, is the first child for Vanessa and her husband Vince, both of whom say they’re looking forward to beginning the parenthood journey in such a special way.
“I feel blessed not only to have a healthy beautiful baby girl with us, but to be the first one of 2018 is pretty amazing,” Vanessa said, just six short hours after delivering Olivia.
“It’s another reason to celebrate.”
It was a momentous occasion for the Riccio family, as Olivia joined her father in a pretty remarkable accomplishment, when she entered the world at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
“She will be the fifth generation in our family,” Vince said.
“I have a great grandmother who just turned 100 in September, so she’s 100 and three months. Now here’s the fifth generation.”
Vince too was the fifth generation of his family when he was born.
It’s been an emotional 24 hours for the couple, who had no idea they’d have the new year’s baby, Olivia not due until Tuesday.
“We had an inkling it could have been us, but we were supposed to be Jan. 2. She came early and most come late. But she decided to come early enough to be the first one. We’re completely ecstatic. Our family is over the moon and we can’t say enough about how fortunate we were to have this happen to us, especially for our first child,” Vince said.
Another pair of prospective parents arrived at the hospital ahead of the Riccios and were farther along in the delivery process, but their baby had to settle for second.
The couple expects to remain in hospital overnight for precautionary reasons and hopes to return home on Tuesday.
