The family of a baby born just after seconds after midnight in Queens on New Year’s Day had declared her the first New York City baby of the year — although two other babies claim to hold the title.
Olivia Rose Espinal, called “The Queen of 2013” by her parents, lay quietly bundled in her mother’s arms at NY Hospital in Queens on Tuesday.
“Definitely a way to make a grand entrance!,” her mother, Rose Espinal, said of her 7 pound, 5 ounce bundle of joy, dressed in a fancy gold bow given to her by nurses.
Little Olivia was due on January 4, but when mom started having contractions at 11:30 Monday night, the countdown was on.
“At that particular time it was 12 midnight, maybe 10 or 15 seconds — so we said I think we have a pretty good chance,” said Dr. Curtis Hardy. “It was pretty close.”
While Olivia’s doctor says she was born just seconds after midnight, the competition for baby’s to be born right as the 2013 began was fierce citywide.
The father of Michael Angelo Fekete sent NBC 4 New York a photo of his baby, who he says was born a minute after midnight at St. Luke’s Roosevelt hospital in Manhattan.
And the first infant that received media attention was a baby named Gena, who was born 12:54 a.m. at Methodist Hospital in Park Slope, Brooklyn.