COEUR d’ALENE — New Year’s Day often signifies a day of renewal that can generate questions both powerful and stressful. Will I get that kiss to celebrate the new year? Will I live up to my resolutions? Will I be able to look back this time next year and see personal and professional progress?

Will I be the first in this hospital, this county or this country to deliver a baby?

It is likely that, as you read this, a mother has already given birth to a “first” today, whether that baby is the first in Kootenai County, in Idaho, in America or in the world. But how does giving birth before all others on this day differ from giving birth in, say, June? Or does it differ at all?

In the interest of fair and transparent reporting, I must first admit I am not only a New Year’s Baby but a “first” in my own right, the first person born in Okanogan County, Washington, at 12:46 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1975.

As 1975’s “first,” my parents and I were awarded with (among other prizes) a year’s supply of diapers, a savings bond, some baby powder and — for reasons passing understanding — a case of motor oil from the Napa Auto Parts in Oroville, Wash. (UPDATE: As of press time, my father has still not picked up the motor oil.)

In contrast, the retailer Toys ‘R’ Us offered a $25,000 savings bond to the first baby born in the United States back in 2007.

As a once-in-a-thousand-years gesture, a baby girl named Tupou — born 20 minutes after midnight, Jan 1., 2000, in Auckland, New Zealand — was reportedly offered a wealth of riches in endorsements as Earth’s first child born in the new millennium, according to the BBC. The parents declined, fearing both a violation of their newborn girl’s privacy and the weight of its perceived responsibility.

While Selah Glendening’s son Archer didn’t face the same notoriety as Tupoa, the Coeur d’Alene hair stylist said the fact Archer was Kootenai Health’s first delivery in 2017 gave the family something extra to mark the occasion.

“I just love having the [Coeur d’Alene Press] article from three years ago,” Glendening said. “It’s great to look back on and remember. It’s cool to look back, and it’s cool we get to celebrate a birthday while we welcome in the new year.”

Some parents-to-be will request to induce labor for a stroke-of-midnight birth. Glendening didn’t have that particular problem.

“I was actually due to have him on Jan. 6,” she said. “So he came six days early. We went into labor. It was a big surprise.”

Three years later, Glendening said she learned a valuable lesson about celebrating Archer’s birthday.

“My advice would be, when you celebrate, don’t celebrate on New Year’s Day,” she said. “Everybody’s tired. It’s only my third time trying it this year, but oh, man. Everybody’s zoned out. Everybody’s tired. Nobody wants to celebrate anything. It’s hard to get a party together on New Year’s Day.”

Joshua Roach, Kootenai County’s “first” in 1990, agreed.

“Nobody wants to get together to celebrate on New Year’s,” he said. “Everybody’s hung over … But I would hope people could have the same amount of love for New Year’s that I have. It’s by far my favorite holiday. You would think it’d be Thanksgiving or Christmas, but for me, it’s New Year’s.”

When pressed, Roach said being the first was a bit of a badge of honor, though not nearly as special to him personally as just being born on Jan. 1.

“It was great when I was growing up, because there was never any school,” he said. “That’s one reason it’s my favorite holiday. There was no school, it was Christmas break, it was a federal holiday. It always felt a little more special.”

Moreso, he said, his birthday falling on a day of universally acknowledged renewal gave him a different outlook.

“It makes it easy to tell where you’re at in the year,” he said. “It helps you keep perspective.”

With ever-expanding population, one would think “firsts” would trend earlier each year. After all, while I was born at 12:46 p.m. on New Year’s Day 1975, Jeriah James Taylor was Kootenai County’s first to arrive in 2019, delivered at 5 a.m.

However, not every “first” arrives earlier and earlier with each passing year. For that matter, not every “first” arrives on New Year’s Day. On Jan. 3, 2005, for example, Cali Nieland said she wasn’t impatient waiting for the birth of her third child.

“Manhattan was supposed to be born closer to Christmas,” the Dalton Gardens resident said. “My sister actually called the [Coeur d’Alene Press] earlier that day to ask if a baby had been born yet. She was told no one was, and then it just kind of happened. Sometimes it just happens.”

A delayed delivery wasn’t the only unorthodox detail of Manhattan’s 10:41 a.m. birth.

“Manhattan has two older brothers that were born in a hospital,” Nieland said. “I think I was just building up my courage for a home birth. But that’s what we did.”

Nieland said that knowing what she knows now, she would have had a home birth for each and every one of her children.

“The home birth was beautiful because it’s a natural occurrence,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of fear about the idea of it, but it was so much more relaxing. But you know what, it was also my third child. Part of me knew what to expect.”

Nieland added that it’s hard to pin down what makes a New Year’s birth special.

“It’s definitely different,” she reflected, “and it’s definitely special. But just having a child is special, whether they’re born on New Year’s or not.”