The first child of Jay Morrison and Candace Leitch was in such a hurry to be the first born in Wellington County this year that she arrived five weeks early.
Olivia, a 5 pound, 11 ounce girl was born at 4:37am at Groves Hospital.
She not only surprised her parents by her early arrival, she shocked them by getting a pile of gifts from Welcome Wagon which gathers them each year for the first baby at Groves.
Leitch said she and the baby are doing well, but hospital officials kept them for several days because Olivia was so early “They want to make sure she’s okay.”
Leitch was thrilled when she saw the gifts. “It was wonderful,” she said. “We really didn’t expect anything. It was overwhelming.”
Olivia is not only the couple’s first child, she is the first grandchild for Connie Becker and Ralph Morrison, of Arthur. She is the third grandchild of David and Helen Leitch, of Rockwood.
The new family was not alone in being thrilled with the gifts. Helen Marucci, of the Welcome Wagon, said she was surprised, too, about the number of gifts donated this year. Welcome Wagon has been collecting gifts for the first baby born at Groves for about ten years, but she said this year was record setting.
“We’ve never had this many,” she said of the 66 gifts that were donated. That included the Wellington Advertiser’s gift of a child’s rocking chair.
Marucci said the Centre Wellington Chamber of Commerce posted the gift collection in early December, and it was also published in the Advertiser, and many merchants and donors had already wrapped their gifts when Welcome Wagon volunteers dropped by.
Other donors, she said, dropped off gifts at the volunteers’ homes, which was thoughtful because December is a busy time of year.
The gifts includes numerous gift certificates, baby items, toys, books, clothing, and even a first aid course.
Palmerston and District Hospital had one birth to report by Jan. 5, but there were none at Louise Marshall Hospital in Mount Forest.
