New Year baby's arrival has special significance for Whanganui family

Her siblings Sith (left) and Tayla both wanted to hold newborn baby Grace. Photo / Lewis Gardner

A new baby in the family is a lovely way to start the new year, according to grandad Andy O'Neil.

His daughter Laura Rolleston gave birth to Grace Evie Rolleston-Anderson at 5.40am on January 1 at Whanganui Hospital.

Baby Grace and her mother will be taken back to their Whanganui home today, and her dad Don Anderson and siblings Sith and Tayla were all in the hospital room when the Chronicle arrived.

Sith had wanted the baby to be a boy, but Tayla and Laura both wanted a girl.

The name Grace is special to Laura. Her sister Ariana Grace O'Neil died two years ago on December 23, aged 24. The family gave her a final send-off on December 31.

Even before she knew the baby's due date was December 31, Laura wanted to name her Grace if she was a girl.

"It was quite cool how it worked out, because it was like a goodbye to my sister but a new beginning for someone new in my family," she said.

Laura went into labour on New Year's Eve and was taken to Whanganui Hospital's maternity section. The birth was a difficult one, she said, because the baby was transverse - sideways - in her abdomen.

Staff thought a caesarean section would be needed, but the baby turned and got into the right position in time for a natural birth.