New Year's baby

An eight pound, nine ounces girl is the first baby to be born in Northwestern Ontario in 2010.

Lindsay Yellowhead, 23, gave birth to Briar at 6:25 a.m. in the Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre on Friday. Yellowhead and her partner Brian Wapoose traveled from Fort Hope on Dec. 24 to prepare for the birth.

The couple spent Christmas day waiting for the baby to be born and opened a few presents. On New Year’s eve they called for an ambulance at 8:45 p.m. They arrived at the hospital around 9:20 p.m. and she began her contractions at 11 p.m. Yellowhead tried for hours until a caesarian section was called at 5:30 a.m.

"I feel pretty excited," Yellowhead said. "It’s good to have her here. She wasn’t due for seven more days."

Yellowhead said she was told right when she woke up that her second child was a New Year’s baby. She said she was a bit sore but other than that she and the baby were ok.

The couple will fly home with Briar as soon as the lodge has arranged a flight and is discharged from the hospital. Yellowhead said her family is waiting to see the new baby.