by Ian Elliot
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 07/98) - Yellowknife's first baby of 1998 is actually Rae's first baby, but why quibble?

Mary Jane Rabesca, a Rae resident who was in Yellowknife for New Year's Eve, gave birth at 10:32 a.m. New Year's Day at Stanton Regional Hospital, and so became the city's official New Year's baby.

The as-yet-unnamed baby boy checked in at a healthy seven pounds 10 ounces.

"I wasn't expecting to be the New Year's baby," Rabesca said the following day as she was making preparations to return to Rae with her newborn son, who was far more interested in feeding and sleeping than in basking in his achievement.

The 30-year-old single mother has one other child, but this was her first New Year's baby.

She said she was sitting with friends at the Raven pub just after the New Year had been rung in when she realized she was going into labor. She was taken to the hospital at 2 a.m. and gave birth eight hours later.

The baby will be named by the father, who was still searching for a name earlier this week, she said.

Rabesca was presented with the traditional large gift basket packed with baby-care essentials in recognition of the milestone.