Eleven families in Niagara have a new reason to celebrate New Year’s Day.

Gabriella Barde was one of 11 babies born at Niagara Health on Jan. 1, 2022, making her grand debut at 7:14 a.m. She weighs six pounds, four ounces and is 49 cm long.

She is the first child of proud parents Jenny Rose Barde and Michael Laurence Barde of Niagara-on-the-Lake, who moved to Canada from the Philippines in August 2021.

“Before I gave birth, I was really nervous to deliver the baby, but when I saw her, everything changed,” said Rose. “It’s worth the wait and the pain. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”

Jenny said her water broke almost immediately after the clock struck midnight.

Due on Jan. 11, Gabriella surprised her parents early by giving her family two reasons to celebrate Jan. 1.

“We’ve been married for about three years and thought we couldn’t have children,” said Michael.

“Around the same time we were approved to move to Canada, we were surprised and so excited to find out that we were having a baby. I’m super happy. I was crying in the room too during the delivery. Honestly, we were quite surprised and didn’t expect it to be on New Year’s Day. It’s a memorable day.”