As of 8 p.m., New Year’s Day had seen only one birth in the Miss-Lou.

The son of Emily Dannehl and Johnny Bell of Winnsboro, La., Trinton entered the world at 11 a.m. in Riverside Hospital.

He weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 18 inches long.

&uot;He was due December 30th,&uot; Dannehl said,

&uot;but I just ended up having the first baby of the year.&uot;

Across the river, Natchez Regional Medical Center and Community Hospital were still waiting.

&uot;Dr. Purvis used to say, ‘The apple won’t fall from the tree until it’s ripe,’&uot; said Regional nurse Angel Lyndsey.

&uot;There are no ripe babies today.&uot;

A nurse with 21 years of experience, Lyndsey found nothing out of the ordinary about the lack of deliveries.

&uot;I’ve worked a lot of New Year’s days,&uot; Lyndsey said.

&uot;We (Regional) can go days without having a baby, or we can have five in one day.&uot;

Nurse Rhonda Johnson of Community Hospital shared similar thoughts.

&uot;I remember one year; it was a couple of days before we had a delivery,&uot; Johnson said, &uot;but we usually have one by now.&uot;

The nurses said there does exist a friendly competition between the hospitals as to which will hold the year’s first birth, but each shares the other’s excitement regardless of where it occurs.

&uot;It’s a friendly competition,&uot; Johnson said.

&uot;It’s pretty much a race.

We call one another, ‘Do you have anybody?

Any prospects?’&uot;

Despite the empty delivery rooms, Regional and Community were still prepared with a shower of gifts when their first babies arrived, letting the newborns know this in no ordinary occasion.

&uot;We think it’s a big deal,&uot; Lyndsey said.

Natchez Community nurses said they believe people now look upon pregnancy and birth as common and overlook the miraculous aspects of the affair.

&uot;I think it’s such a common occurrence that people forget it’s a miracle,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;We love it. We know it’s a miracle.&uot;

Just before press time, Carlesha Jalise Jackson was born at Community Hospital. The daughter of Carl and Jackie Jackson, she weighed 6 pounds, 13 1/2 ounces at 19 inches tall.