End of the world or not, Richmondites James Jin, 29 and Ivy Dou, 24, were ecstatic that their baby boy Marcus was the first to be born in the city in 2012.
"Before I started pushing I (knew), and I wanted him to be the first baby (of the year)," said Dou. "I think it's very significant, very lucky."
Luck is even in the infant's name, which in Chinese is Shi (which means world) Hao (good fortune).
The new mother checked into Richmond Hospital at 12: 30 p.m. on New Year's Day, went into labour at 3: 30 and gave birth at 8: 01 p.m.
"There was another baby competing with us, only 10 minutes later than us I think," said Jin, a realtor, laughing. Staff confirmed the good news and showered the family with gifts of plush pastel-coloured blankets and a tiny pair of pyjamas adorned with teddy bears.
Originally from China, Jin and Dou immigrated independently to Canada with their families in the early 2000s and met in Richmond through friends. Moving back to Beijing sometime around 2005 so Dou could finish university, the couple got married soon after. They decided to return to Canada to raise a child.
"School life, and everything - food, milk (is better here)," said Jin. "There's a lot of bad news around China right now about (tainted baby formula) so we are concerned about that issue.
"We think everything here is healthier, that's why (we moved back to Canada)."
They were extra careful with planning for the future because they want to start adding more to their family in a year or two.
