Published: January 02, 2006 09:43 pm      

Baby New Year

When Jackie Duncan’s water broke Friday morning, having the first baby of 2006 in Niagara County was the last thing on the Duncans’ minds.

“We thought we would have had her on Friday night or Saturday,” Jeff Duncan said.

“We never expected it,” Jackie Duncan added.

However, babies work in mysterious ways and Joslynn Marie Duncan was apparently intent on becoming the county’s new year baby.

Baby Joslynn came into the world at 3:55 p.m. Sunday at Lockport Memorial Hospital, weighing in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces, edging out a baby born at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center by a little more than three hours. Their first was born at 7:12 p.m. Sunday.

Others in Jackie Duncan’s family had gone past their due date with their children, so they figured her Dec. 30 due date would come and go with no baby, so much so that they had made plans to host gatherings at their home and spend time with family that was in town for the holidays. Instead, they spent New Year’s Eve at the hospital.

“We celebrated our New Year’s Eve with ginger ale and Dick Clark in the hospital,” Jackie Duncan said.

Lockport Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Susan Wendler said she sat on pins and needles all day Sunday hoping the Duncans would win the mythical prize.

“Usually we have a baby (on Jan. 1),” Wendler said. “This one, we waited a little longer (into the day) than we normally do.”

By being the hospital’s first baby, Joslynn and her parents will get a ride to their Pendleton home in a limousine. That’s just one of many goodies provided by the hospital, in celebration of being the first baby there.

Beth Kumpf, a registered nurse and the OB/GYN manager at Lockport Memorial Hospital, said the maternity ward staff donated all of the items in the basket.

“The staff is very tuned in,” Kumpf said. “It’s our way of saying thank you.”

Kumpf said on normal days, the staff can sometimes feel overwhelmed with the number of births happening on a given day. “But when it comes to Dec. 31, we’re ready to call up our patients and give them subliminal messages (to induce the babies),” she said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

The Duncans weren’t in it for the gifts, though.

“My biggest gift is her,” Jackie Duncan said.

Contact Mark Lindsay at (716) 439-9222, Ext. 6248.