SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The wait is officially over for 2015's first newborn.

This year's New Year's baby is Kaddoch Stewart, son of Yellowknife's Brita Suchlandt and Neil Stewart, born at 3:07 a.m. on Jan. 1.

Brita Suchlandt shows off 2015's first new arrival, Kaddoch Stewart. The son of Suchlandt and Neil Stewart was born at Stanton Territorial Hospital at 3:07 a.m. on Jan. 1 weighing eight pounds, 12 ounces. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo

"I was surprised when the nurse told me he might be this year's New Year's baby," said Suchlandt.

Suchlandt had two reasons to be surprised. First, Kaddoch's original due date was Dec. 21. Second, Suchlandt thought 3 a.m. was probably a little late to be the first baby born in 2015.

But it wasn't too late, and Kaddoch - weighing eight pounds, 12 ounces ­ is no. 1.

It was a quick turn-around for Suchlandt. She only checked into Stanton Territorial Hospital's obstetrics unit at 2 a.m. on Jan. 1 and was checking out of the hospital with Kaddoch by late afternoon the next day.

Kaddoch already has a two-year-old sister, Jubilee Stewart, and two brothers: 10-year-old Graham Diveky-Suchlandt and four-year-old Broch Stewart.

Kaddoch beat three newborns to the title of New Year's Baby that day. One other little Yellowknifer was born at Stanton, as well as two newborns from NWT communities but neither the community nor the names are released for privacy reasons.

To have four babies delivered on one day might sound like a lot, but the hospital's patient care co-ordinator, Tracey Macinnis, said it's not all that unusual to have even five births in one 24-hour day. Stanton has three labour rooms dedicated to labour and delivery in the obstetrics unit.

The final numbers are not in yet from Statistics Canada, but as of Oct. 31, 538 babies were born in the NWT in 2014.

In 2013, there were 689 births in the territory.