STORY:
Millennium Moms Making History

Lots of "first" born babies around the world

As champagne was pouring, confetti falling and crowds cheering moms around the world were pushing and praying that their baby would be born as the clock struck midnight. About 355,000 babies were born in the first 24 hours of the New Year and among those little ones many "firsts".

The very first baby born in the world was born in Auckland, New Zealand. After all, the rest of the world didn’t have much of a chance since New Zealand was one of the first places to ring in the Year 2000. The baby boy seems to be camera shy. His parents don't want to release any information, and for a while he was being watched closely by doctors. In New Zealand six babies were born in the first 20 minutes of 2000.

With so many time zones, so many hospitals and so many moms it is hard to keep track of just who was first and who wasn't. While the bickering over the gold medal will go on for some time, at least we can share some of the "first" stories.

Big Ben was still chiming when Britain's first child of 2000 was born. The little girl was determined to be first, she came three weeks early and was born just seconds into the 21^st century. The little girl's mom had been in delivery for hours beforehand.

"She decided to wait for 2000 and that was it, Alison Webb, the mother, told the London Times. "Thankfully, she is healthy and we are both very happy."

Ireland has the strongest claim to the first child born in the British Isles. A baby girl was born in Dublin just one second into the New Year. Antoinette McGarr's daughter was born as Dublin's church bells began ringing in the year 2000.

Around the world several sets of twins made history. At least four twins were born in different in different centuries. One twin born before midnight, the other moments after. Twins born on different days were reported in Berlin, Indiana, Washington D.C., Washington and Oklahoma.

The "first" baby to arrive on an U.S. military base was born 14minutes past midnight in Japan. Air Force Airman 1^st Class Lisa Matthews and Air Force Senior Airman Joshua Matthews welcomed baby Lauren to the world at Camp Butler in Okinawa.

In Turkey a baby girl was born shortly after midnight and named "Ikibin". Ikibin means 2,000 in Turkish.

While a baby born in South Korea on New Year's Day turned 100 years old the same day, because a hospital computer listed the birthday as January 1, 1900.

The stories of "firsts" go on and on. In fact, every U.S. State has a "first" baby born after midnight so does every single hospital in the world. They are all wonderful stories and you can read about many "firsts" on www.everything2000.com, where moms have been writing in since they got pregnant in April. The moms-to-be are giving birth and many just seconds after midnight.

DATE: 1/6/2000

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