'Quite a shocker': NWT's New Year's baby born with a little surprise

Janelle Cumming gave birth to the territory's first baby of the year at 2:54 a.m. on New Year's day in Fort Smith.

After 48 hours of labour, she finally held her baby in her arms, only to be surprised just in time for the cutting of the umbilical cord.

"When they were going to cut the cord, I turned him around and I looked at him and said, 'It's a boy!' And everybody was like, 'What?'" said Cumming.

Confusion ensued in the delivery room.

"He was supposed to be a girl," said Cumming, laughing. "So that was quite a shocker."

Cumming said she started crying right away.

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"And then I was just like, 'Oh my goodness, like everything is pink that I have.'"

Everything in pink

Cumming and her husband James Colosimo were told to expect a baby girl during the ultrasound.

So the couple had prepared everything accordingly.

"Everything. All her outfits, everything is pink. Even the bathtub," said Cumming.

"So he's going to be wearing pink for a while."

Everything is pink. Even the bathtub.- Janelle Cumming

The couple decided to name the child Oltin James Colosimo-Cumming, after a memory of Cumming's grandfather.

"My grandpa, out of his trapline, he used to always call over the radio 'Oltin Lake,'" said Cumming.  

Baby Oltin was born nine days early. He's the couple's first child and also the first grandchild for Cumming's parents.

"It was a happy surprise," said Cumming.

But Cumming has a word of advice for future parents of 2017: "Going through that experience, [do] not always trust the ultrasound, I guess."

Now, she says she's going to "hold off and wait" before buying baby merchandise for her next child.