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Fair Franklin Square couple welcomes New Years Day baby
Child was born 31 seconds after midnight
A Franklin Square couple rang in the New Year with the birth of their first son Austin Joseph, 31 seconds after the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1. The proud parents, Vanessa and Joseph Sparacio, were scheduled for a C-section so the birth of their second child could be highlighted in a promotional package for the re-branded Northwell Health, which changed its name from North Shore LIJ on Jan. 1. The Sparacio’s also have an 18-month-old. Hours after Austin was born, the hospital released its promotional video welcoming him into the world.
“It was exciting,” Vanessa told the Herald. “I’m a very private person—my husband and I haven’t even watched our wedding video… so it is a little strange seeing the images everywhere but it’s definitely made this whole experience a little bit more exciting.”
Vanessa and Joseph grew up in Franklin Square and both attended H. Frank Carey High School, graduating a year apart.
Joining the soon-to-be parents in the delivery room were two cameramen and two men in charge of the lighting. Thankfully, most of the men were new dads so they weren’t any awkward moments, Vanessa said.
What was unexpected however was the vaginal birth at the stroke of midnight of Daniela and Eli Malakov’s baby boy. The parents are of Jewish faith and therefore will not release the name of their son until the bris, which generally occurs eight days after the birth. Two seconds after the Malakov’s baby entered the world; another child was born at North Shore University Hospital, which is part of the Northwell Health System.
“That was certainly a shocker,” said Terry Lynam, Northwell Health’s chief public relations officer. Usually the hospital calls expecting families before the New Year to gauge when the first baby of the New Year will be delivered, he said.
“The fact that you had a baby born at the stroke of midnight, two seconds after midnight, and then the Sparacio’s 31 seconds later that was pretty remarkable,” Lynam said.
By planning the C-section, Lynam and the staff felt secure that Austin would be the first baby born at the renamed hospital.
“You never know with these things,” Lynam said. “You figure if it’s within a couple of minutes after midnight then you’re pretty safe that he’s going to be the first but then he ended up being the third. He’s a beautiful baby and we’re really happy with how the advertisement came out.”
Austin almost made his debut two hours before midnight. The doctors noticed that his heart rate had slightly dropped. It returned to a normal level, but Vanessa was told that if it happened again, the doctors could not wait until midnight to deliver her son. Fortunately for the Sparacios and the hospital, that didn’t happen and now they have a professionally produced first hand account of their son’s birth.
“It was just very touching,” Vanessa said. “The way they produced the commercial—it was very emotional but it was also very soft and I think really sort of captured all the excitement.”
